"Luke, please..." Lorelai began. "You've slept on the couch the last two nights."

"Big deal." Luke replied.

"Just... let Rory and I take the couch."

"Are you crazy, there's not enough room on the couch for you both." Luke said spreading the quilt across the couch.

"We can do the whole squishing together thing, with her feet beside my head and my feet beside her head, and yeah sure one of us will fall off sooner or later, but it's fun to see who can last the longest."

"Lorelai, go to bed." Luke replied laying down.

"Ugh.." she huffed. "Fine." she walked into the bedroom and shut the door.

"No luck?" Rory asked looking up from her novel.

"None. I tell you that man is impossible." Lorelai replied flopping down on the bed.

"Off with his head." Rory said cooly.

"He could give in every now and then you know." Lorelai continued. "I mean it's not like he has to be the cool, calm, quiet, brave, sexy, strong..." Lorelai dazed for a moment.

"Mom?" Rory asked laughingly. "Do you have a thing for Luke?"

"I don't know." Lorelai replied more seriously.

"Luke's nice." Rory added. "Very nice."

"He is." Lorelai agreed. "He's really been here for us."

Rory closed her novel and turned off the bed side lamp. "Tomorrow night, I can take the couch if you want." Rory teased.

"Aw, that's so darling of you." Lorelai joked in return. "But I think it'll be a while before Luke and I decided to wake up next to each other."

"Wow... that's kind of a scarey thought." Rory replied.

"Very."

(The next morning)

"So, Luke..." Joe began. "This Lorelai girl. You've known her for a while?"

"Uh, yeah. A few years." Luke replied taking a sip of coffee.

"You like her?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, she's a good person."

"That's not what I meant." Joe smiled. "Do you like her?"

"Sort of." Luke answered.

"Mm Hm," Joe chuckled. "And the young girl?"

"Rory?"

"You don't mind that she has a daughter?"

"Are you kidding, Rory is great." Luke smiled. "She's smart, and funny, and respectful. She's going to make it far in life."

"So you're very fond of them both." Joe connected.

"Yes. I am." Luke admitted. "Hey, thanks for giving us a place to stay."

"Oh, it's no problem. If some lunatic was after two people I cared dearly for, I'd want to have a safe place to run to as well."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Luke replied. "Matthew... he hurt Rory. And just a couple of days ago, he hurt a friend of Rory's. I want to kill him... you know?" Luke leaned back in his chair.

"When Diane passed away, I thought my life was over. I thought that I'd never love again, or enjoy life. I thought that my world was going to crash to the ground, and there was nothing I could do to stop it." Joe paused. "But then one morning, I woke up and said... "Joseph, get your ass up, you're alive, you're still somewhat young, and you live in New York."

"Did that help?" Luke asked.

"Yeah... after saying every morning for a while. I got a promotion at work. Did some traveling. Now days things are alright."

"That's a sad story." Luke replied. "But I'm glad it has a good ending."

"Luke... it took a long time for me to realize I wasn't going to be happy again until I took control of things. Till I went after the things that I wanted." Joe looked Luke straight in the eyes. "If you don't take what you want, someone else will."

Luke was finally starting to understand what Joe was hinting around about. Suddenly Lorelai bust through the door.

"There you guys are." She replied. "I was wondering where you two went."

"Good morning, Lorelai." Joe smiled. "Beautiful out here isn't it?" Joe replied gazing around at the city from the top of his balcony.

"Yes, it is." Lorelai agreed allowing her eyes to maneuver around the buildings.

"Not my type." Luke chimed in.

"Aah, yes we all know you're the small town, outdoor, bounty man." Lorelai teased.

"Always has been." Joe added. "I tried to get Luke to moved to New York with me after graduation. He wouldn't do it."

"Well, that sounds like Luke." Lorelai smiled.

Joe stood up. "I have to go work. I'll see you both later this evening."

"Bye." Luke and Lorelai said together.

Lorelai sat down beside Luke. "Hey, let's go somewhere today."

"Where?" Luke asked.

"Anywhere. We're in New York, so let's take advantage of it." Lorelai smiled. "I'm sure there's a thousand and one things to do."

Luke shook his head. "Okay..." he smiled.

"Wow, that's it?" Lorelai asked. "It was that easy? No lecture about how we need to stay here and play it safe, and New York has nothing more to offer than Stars Hollow. Everything just costs more, and comes in less quantity..."

"Fine, I'm not going." Luke began.

"No, no..." Lorelai jumped up quickly. "I'll go tell Rory to get ready." She hurried back inside.

(Inside a New York book store)

"Pricey." Rory noted as she picked up a book.

"Everything is." Luke replied.

"Wow... this one is $250.00" Lorelai gasped.

"Who wrote it?" Rory asked.

"No idea. Never even heard of this guy." Lorelai made an awkward face and set the book back on the shelf.

"You know, we could stay in here all day looking at books we'll never read..." Lorelai smiled.

"Or?" Luke asked.

"We could go grab some New York pizza, a couple of New York hot dogs... and oh... go to the mall!"

"Sounds great!" Rory exclaimed, slamming shut a book and tossing it back into a basket.

"Good lord." Luke sighed. "There is no such thing as New York pizza. Pizza is pizza anywhere. Same for hot dogs. And the mall?" He asked. "There's tons of malls in Connecticut."

"Yeah, but they're not New York Malls!" Lorelai said grinning. "Let's go." she grabbed Luke's arm and pulled him towards the door.

"Wow, how do you get out of this place?" Lorelai asked.

"No clue." Luke replied. "There has to be over a thousand people in here."

"I don't see an exit sign anywhere."

"There's one." Luke pointed to the left.

"Ohh.. Good.." Lorelai wove her way through the crowd of people. When she reached the exit door she turned around. "Where's Rory?"

Luke turned around quickly. "I thought she was right behind me."

"Well.. She's not." Lorelai replied stiffly.

"Stay here." Luke said holding up his hand. "I'll find her."

Several minutes passed and Luke never returned. Lorelai was becoming very impatient. Finally, she couldn't wait any longer and went in search of Rory on her own. Nearly half an hour had passed, and now Lorelai had lost both Rory and Luke. She tried to remain calm, but given the circumstances, it wasn't easy. Finally, a voice called out. "Mom!"

Lorelai quickly turned around. "Rory!" she slid through the crowd finding a way to get to her daughter. "Oh, my god." Lorelai sighed. "My heart..." she placed her hand on her chest.

"I'm sorry." Rory replied. "You guys were moving so fast, I couldn't keep up."

"It's okay." Lorelai smiled. "As long as I've found you and you're here and you're safe... it's okay."

"Where's Luke?" Rory asked.

"He went looking for you. We'll find him. Come on." Lorelai grabbed Rory by the hand, this time making sure she didn't lose her.

(Many hours later)

"Ma'am I'm sorry." The cashier replied.

"Yes, you've said that many times." Lorelai responded. "But you don't understand. My friend is here somewhere... and I need to find him."

"We're closing." The cashier said cooly. "If your friend is in here, then the janitor will let him out. That is if he's not mistaken for a burglar."

"Why can't you just page him?" Lorelai shot back quickly.

"I'm sorry ma'am. Good night." The cashier closed the door leaving Rory and Lorelai standing on the cold streets of New York, alone.