Disclaimer: Alas, I own nothing. Not Lorelai. Not Rory. Not Luke (wipes away a tear). Nothing.

Ok, this is the first time I'm doing this so please forgive me.
smartipantz:Perhaps you're right about Luke andWill.But the bigger the problem, the bigger the reunion. Right? Idon't know. I really like the whole Tyler/Emma idea. It'sgot a Romeo and Juliet feel to it don'tyou think?
Antifangirl1725: Let's not forget Luke and nicole were married too. It's gonna be a wild, crazy chapter full of lued behavior.
Bloomin Daisy: Rory is not having an affair, but Logan doesn't know what to think at this point. Be prepared for a fallout.
Charmedchic72: Actually, Kelly Clackson's Breakaway is the inspiration of this fic. MAx hasn't told Luke and Lorelai about Will becausehe knows them. He's cutting him slack in hopes he'll change. Emma and Tyler are gonna play a big role later.
Professor: My God. what dedication you have! You are one of the only people that has reviewed to every chapter of every fic I've written. I feel like I should be giving you a prize or something. I'm doing the Peter Panda Dance for ya. Lol.

Chapter 8- Is that a yes or a no?

Will turned off the TV and let out a sigh. He was bored out of his mind and it was only the first day of his two week suspension. Luke and Lorelai gave him things to do around the house, but he finished most of the list already and what he didn't do couldn't be done until his parents got home. Will got up and started to walk around his empty house. He ended up downstairs in the basement, which had been turned into a lounge. Will and his band- Josh, Sam, and Lane and Dave's thirteen year old son Joey- would sometimes practice down there too.

Will picked up his guitar and checked if it was in tune. Of course it was in tune. It was always in tune. When he forgot to check, Luke always did. Will was practicing the song Luke was teaching him when the phone started to ring. He put his guitar down and went to answer the phone.

"Hello?" he answered.

"William, it's your grandfather," Richard said.

"Oh, hey Grandpa. What's up?"

"I was hoping you and I could meet up for lunch." Will was about to say something, but Richard continued. "Now I've already spoken to your parents and they've agreed to allow you to join me. I can have a driver there to pick you up in fifteen minutes. What do you say?"

"Uh, sure. Yeah. I can be ready in fifteen minutes. Do I have to be dressed nice or…"

"A clean shirt and nice pants will do."

"Ok. Uh, I guess I'll see you soon."

"Yes. I'll see you soon."

Will hung up the phone and went to get ready. He threw on a pair of khakis and a black dress shirt. Fifteen minutes later, he was rushing down the stairs to meet up with the driver his grandfather sent. He was in Hartford in no time. He stood on the doorstep and waited for the new maid to answer the door. Richard had a new maid every other week. Frequently changing maids was a habit he picked up from Emily.

"Hi," he greeted the maid. "I'm Will Danes, Richard's grandson."

"Of course," she said. She stepped aside to let Will in and led him to the livingroom. "Mr. Gilmore will be down in a minute."

"Ok. Thanks." Will stood when his grandfather entered the room. "Hi Grandpa."

"Good afternoon William," Richard greeted. He glanced at his watch. "Oh my. We better go."

Will followed Richard out to the car. They arrived at Richard's country club five minutes later and were immediately seated. They ordered and the table was quiet.

"Now, you're probably wondering why I asked you here today," Richard said.

"Yeah," Will laughed. "I kinda am."

"I heard about the incident at Chilton."

"Already?"

"Your mother and father called me last night. How do you think I knew you'd be home in the middle of a Tuesday?" Will looked down at his plate. "I asked you hear today because I'm worried about you. This is a very dangerous path you're following. I'm worried if you continue down this road, something far worse than getting kicked out of Chilton will happen. William, why did you fight that young man?"

Will shrugged. "I don't know. I just don't like him."

Richard sighed and shook his head. "This is unacceptable William."

"I know Grandpa and I'm really sorry about what happened."

"I know you're sorry, but saying sorry isn't going to make this go away. I want to help put you back on the right track. If there is anything I can do for you William, tell me and I won't hesitate to help."

"Something's not right," Lorelai said as she paced around in her livingroom. "I've got a real bad feeling about this whole situation."

"I'm sure it's nothing," Sookie assured as she took a sip of her coffee.

"What if it is something? What if it's something serious?"

"Seriously Lorelai, why are you so worried?"

"He was sick."

"People get sick."

"Sookie, this is Luke we're talking about. Luke's never been sick. Ever."

"You're worried because of a little cold?"

"No. There's other…stuff."

"What other stuff?"

"I don't know. He's been a lot more tired lately. He has these really bad headaches. And…" Lorelai trailed off as she stopped pacing and slowly sat down.

"And what?"

She took a deep breath and touched her wedding ring. "He stopped breathing."

Sookie wasn't sure of what she heard her friends say. "What?"

"He stopped breathing," Lorelai nearly sobbed. "This morning. Caesar opened the diner because Luke had a meeting, so he didn't get up at his usual time. I woke up before he did and when I looked over at him…" Lorelai paused and turned away, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I was so scared Sookie. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't even get myself to call nine-one-one."

"What happened?"

Lorelai shrugged. She couldn't stop the tears at this point. "When I finally got the sense to do something, he started breathing again. I was so happy he was breathing, I just started to cry."

"Did you ask him about it?"

"He said he was dream swimming," Lorelai laughed through her tears. "He has never done something in reality he did in a dream."

"Except for sleep with and marry you."

"I applaud your attempt at lightening the mood, but it's not going to help." Lorelai put her untouched coffee down. "Do you think he's hiding something from me?"

"What? No! Of course not. He tells you everything. Maybe he really was dream swimming."

"Come on Sook. Dream swimming?"

"Yeah, that does sound kinda weird."

"I feel like there's something he's not telling me."

"Honey," Sookie said, putting her hand on Lorelai's, "it's probably nothing."

"Or maybe it's something so bad, he's afraid to tell me." Lorelai sighed. "Oh God I hope he's ok."

"Ok, you can put your shirt back on now," Paris said as she turned away and wrote something down on her clipboard.

Luke pulled his long sleeved shirt over his head and then put his flannel on over it. "So what's the verdict doc?" he asked as he started buttoning up his shirt.

Paris sighed and leaned against the counter. "It's coronary heart disease."

Luke froze and stared blankly at Paris. "Are…are you sure?"

Paris painfully nodded. "It could be caused by a number of things- eating habits, continuous stress, high blood pressure. It could be caused by stress, hereditary, or a combination of the two. Or it can be one of those rare cases where we don't know what causes it."

"Heredity? But my father died of leukemia."

"It could have skipped a generation. Your father had leukemia and now Jess does. Do you know what your grandfather died of?"

"Yeah. He died of…" Luke trailed off for a second. "Heart failure."

"Cardiovascular disease probably runs in your family. I'd look into it."

"Yeah. It's at the top of my list of things to do."

"Luke, I'm so sorry about this. When are you going to tell Lorelai?" Luke looked down and started buttoning his shirt again. "Luke." Still no response. "Luke, you have to tell Lorelai."

"No," Luke said firmly as he hopped off the examination table. "I can't tell Lorelai or the kids about this."

"They're your family. They have a right to know."

"No. Not now. Not when everything's all screwed up. There's just too much going on in our family. I'm not putting another burden on their shoulders."

"By not telling them, you're putting yourself more at risk! You can't just shrug this off Luke.This is an extremely large burden for you to bear and the stress is going to undo you. Those pains in your chest, they're mini-heart attacks called angina. With each one, you get closer and closer to the big one and there is a possibility that it can be a fatal one. Look, Rory's my best friend. She's practically family to me. When she's hurting, so am I. I'm begging you Luke. Tell them."

Luke grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. "I'll see you next time doc."

He walked out to his truck and drove back to the diner. He had to go to Hartford for his doctor's appointment. Not because Paris's main office was in Hartford, but because he didn't want anyone to know he was ill. On his way back to town, Luke thought about what Paris had said to him. How could he tell his family he was going to die? There was a simple answer. He wasn't.

"How about this one?" Emma asked as she pulled another book from the shelf.

Lori looked at the book Emma was holding. "Nope. Too boring."

"To Kill a Mockingbird? Lori, it's a classic."

"Classically boring. You can get it if you want, but I'm going to pass."

"Fine," Emma sighed as she put the book back. She picked up a copy of The Crucible. "What about this one?"

"Nu uh. Too weird."

"You're weird. You're just going to reject every book I pick, so you get one."

Lori looked through a few titles and made her decision, hiding it behind her back. "Ok, not only is this book not boring, but it's been a classic for centuries." She showed her choice to Emma.

"The Odyssey? Lori, we've read that book fifty times."

"Ah, but not in Greek."

"We can't read Greek."

"See. Another challenge."

"I decline."

"Why?"

"Because we've read it fifty times and we can't read Greek."

Lori shrugged and put the book back. "Ok, we've officially rejected every book in here."

"Right on time too. I have to go. Dad's got me on babysitting duty."

"Sucks for you."

"Gee, thanks. Call me later?"

"After I learn Greek."

"Good. Bye Lor."

"Bye Em."

Emma put her backpack on and headed out the door. She was crossing the street when she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

"Emma!" Tyler called. "Emma, wait up!"

Emma stopped and waited as Tyler jogged in her direction. "Oh, hey Tyler," she greeted.

"Hey."

Emma stared at him, waiting for him to carry on the conversation. But he didn't. "Is there something you wanted?"

"Oh! Yeah. I, uh, wanted to ask you something."

"Ok. What is?"

"Uh…" Suddenly Tyler forgot what he was doing. Or maybe he was just chickening out. He couldn't really tell the difference right now. "Um, how are you doing today?"

"I'm fine," Emma laughed. "And you?"

"I'm…I'm ok."

"Is that it?"

"No."

"Ok, well, I'm listening when you're ready to tell me."

"I'm sorry. I'm just…nervous."

"About what?"

"This."

"Standing in town square? We can go across the street if you want."

"I wasn't talking about that. Ok, well, I was sorta wondering if you, um, wanted to, uh…you know. Go see a movie at the BWR theater or something."

"You mean, like a date?"

Tyler stared rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah. I guess. So, do you?"

Emma stared at Tyler for a while, then looked around. She realized they were standing in the middle of town square. Out in the open for the whole town to see.

"I…I gotta go," Emma stuttered. She started to walk backwards in the direction of her house.

"What? Emma…"

"I promised my dad I'd babysit. I have to get home. I'm sorry Tyler." Emma turned around and started to run.

"Emma, don't…Emma. Emma! Wait!" Tyler tried calling out. "Is that a yes or a no?"

Tyler sighed when he realized he wasn't getting an answer. He shook his head and noticed something in the corner of his eye. He turned his head and confirmed his suspicion. There, in front of Miss Patty's Studio, was Miss Patty herself and Babette whispering to each other, no doubt about the display Tyler and Emma had just put on.

"Ah shit," Tyler groaned. He kicked the dirt under his feet and trudged back to Doose's.

Next time on "Breakaway": Rory and Logan have a pleasant conversation. Will threatens Tyler when he shows up at the Danes's door asking to see Emma. Lorelai tries to get Luke to participate in the new town event.

A/N: I did my research and the Coronary Heart Disease stuff checks out. I know it was boring, but keep Will and Richard's conversation in mind. It'll come in hand later. The Tyler asking Emma out scene was different the first time I wrote it, but I decided against it. I liked this one better. I know you all probably hate me for doing this to Luke, but just remember something- a lesson that should have been learned when you read The Broken Road: Not everything is as it seems.