"Thank you for letting me use your phone." Rory replied as she handed it back to the man.

"You're welcome." he replied. "You must be new in town. I haven't seen you around before."

"Yes, sir." Rory answered politely. "My mom and I just moved here."

"Oh? Well, I hope you both like ."

"We already do." Rory had always been taught not to talk to strangers, but this man appeared harmless. "I'm Rory." She introduced.

"Luke." He replied.

"Is this your restaurant, Luke?" Rory asked.

"Well, it's a diner, but other than that, yeah." He smiled. "So, what happened? Miss your stop?"

Rory shook her head. "I was supposed to go to the Independence Inn."

"I see. I guess you just called your mom then?" Luke inquired. "Hey, how about I fix you up something to eat until she gets here?"

Rory's eyes widened. She hadn't eaten anything since lunch. "Sure." she agreed.

"Do you like cheeseburgers?" Luke asked.

"I love them! With lots and lots of ketchup." Rory added.

"Alright, one cheeseburger with lots and lots of ketchup, coming up." Luke walked back into the diner kitchen.

A few minutes later, Lorelia came hurrying through the diner door. "Rory." She called. Rory jumped down from her stool and ran to her mother. "What happened? You were supposed to meet me at the inn."

"The bus never stopped, mommy." Rory answered. "This was the last stop he made, so he made me get off here. I was the last person to get off the bus."

"Well, I'll have a talk with the school and the bus driver in the morning." Lorelai concluded. "Get your book bag."

Rory turned around and ran back to her stool as she was about to pick up her bag, Luke set the cheeseburger down in front of her. "There ya, go." he smiled.

Rory looked at the cheeseburger then looked up at Luke. "Can I get it to go please? My mom is here now."

Luke turned his head and looked up. It felt as if every muscle in his body had frozen. His heart began to beat uncontrollably fast. He stared at her for several moments before he could fully comprehend that she was actually standing there.

Feeling the thick amount of uncomfortableness, Lorelai walked over to the counter. "Hi." She said softly.

"Hi." Luke repeated in a distraught voice.

"Thank you, for taking care of Rory." Lorelai remarked.

"Sure." Luke replied, still staring at the woman.

Lorelai looked down at Rory who was completely clueless to the ordeal. "Let's go, sweetie." Lorelai directed. They turned and were about to exit the diner. Luke stood watching them for a moment, but then burst out from behind the counter.

"Wait!" He yelled, catching the attention of everyone in the diner.

Lorelai quickly turned around. Her eyes were full of sorrow, pain, and fear. Luke could sense that she was nervous and troubled. He stood silent for a moment, he had no idea what to say. Here was the love of his life standing in his diner after vanishing for eight years and he had planned in his mind what he would say if her ever go the chance to see her again, and yet, the words were not there.

"Lorelai." He whispered.

Lorelai focused her attention on Rory. "Tell you what, why don't you go ahead and eat your cheeseburger." Rory was easy to convince considering she was very hungry, and the cheeseburger smelled delicious. She hurried back to her stool and took a huge bite.

"I guess you have a lot of questions." Lorelai said staring into Luke's eyes.

"I can't believe you're here." he replied. "I just cant..."

Lorelai bit her bottom lip. "If you want to get together later and talk..." Lorelai began.

"Yeah!" Luke quickly answered, his voicing raising higher. "I mean, yeah." He repeated in a lower tone. I close at 8:00."

"Alright. I'll stop by at 8:00."

Luke glanced back at Rory who was just about finished with her cheeseburger. Was this his child? He so desperately wanted to ask, but it was far too public of a time to ask such a thing. He would wait until Lorelai came by later that night.

Rory finished off the last bite of her burger and was once again by her mother's side. "I'm ready." She announced.

Lorelai smiled. "Thank you again." She directed to Luke as she took Rory by the hand and lead her out the door.