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

A/N: I've been getting requests for a run down of whose kid is whose. So here's a quick run down.
Luke and Lorelai- Will (16), Emma (14), Lana (8), and Richie (4)
Rory and Logan- Lori (13), Hope (8), and Nate (8 months)
Jess- Holden (Not yet introduced- 13), Oliver aka Ollie (8), and Noah (Not yet introduced- 9 months)
Max and Rachel- Dominic (13) and Jeffrey (8)
Lane and Dave- Joey (13) and Paul (8)
Sookie and JAckson- Davey (19), Josh (17), and Martha (8)
Dean and Lindsey- Lena (16)
Misc. teen characters- Sam Lawson (Tristin DuGrey's son; 16), Anthony Stiles (Jason and Nicole's son; 16), Tyler Doose (Taylor's great nephew; 14).

Chapter 12- Every action has a reaction

"Morning Lulu, Kirk," Will greeted as he walked over to their table with his ordering pad. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have eggs, toast, and coffee please," Lulu replied.

"Can I ask you a question Will?" Kirk asked.

"I told you before Kirk, I can't make your eggs half scrambled and half sunny side up. But I can make you two separate eggs, one sunny side up and the other scrambled," Will replied.

"I wanted to get confirmation regarding a rumor I heard. Is it true Tyler Doose told Emma she wasn't good enough to be his friend, let alone girlfriend?"

Will glared at Kirk. "Kirk, do you know what my father would do to you if he had heard you asking that question?"

"Hurt me? Very badly?"

"Yes. He would have hurt you very, very badly."

"Is he here?"

"No, but I suggest you watch what you say in this establishment. I'll be back with your food in a few minutes." Will headed back to the kitchen to place Kirk and Lulu's orders with Caesar. He turned around to see Tyler across the street. "Caesar, I'll be back in five minutes!"

Will put his ordering pad and headed out the door like a man on a mission. When everyone saw where he was headed and realized there were about to be fireworks, they flocked to the nearest window to watch the confrontation.

"Hey!" Will barked at Tyler as he neared him.

Tyler looked up to see Will. "I'm not in the mood right now Will," he sighed. "I gotta get to…"

Before Tyler could finish his sentence, Will grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the side of the gazebo. "I warned you," Will growled. "I warned you not to hurt my baby sister!"

"I didn't!"

"Are you calling that sweet, innocent girl a liar?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Then you did hurt her!"

"No!"

"It's one or the other bag boy."

"I didn't hurt her!"

"So you're calling her a liar?"

Tyler was getting pretty tired of being pushed around. He took it as a kid, but he had just about enough. He shoved Will off of him. "I am sick and tired of you and this stupid town telling me I'm a piece of crap because the town's little princess goes crying to big brother after I do what he told me to do."

"I told you to stay away from her. I didn't tell you to make her cry! What the hell did you say to her Doose?"

"I told her I couldn't see her, I couldn't be her friend, I couldn't talk to her, I couldn't be seen with her! I was doing what you told me to! I'm not the one that hurt her Will. You did!"

"What are you talking about?"

"She liked me! Your sister liked me Will and because I was respecting you, I broke her heart! She could have been happy with me, but you can't get past the fact I'm a Doose. Look, I get it ok? I get that your dad is some kind of local legend and you're the town golden boy so I shouldn't be messing with you or your family. What you need to realize is that I like Emma and Emma likes me. Maybe I could have made her happy, but we'll never know as long as you keep this stupid feud between our families brewing. You do whatever you want. Kick my ass. Call me an asshole. Tell me to go to hell. It doesn't matter because beating me up may make you feel better, but it's not gonna do Emma any good. Now if you'd excuse me, I need to get to work." Tyler started walking past Will and stopped right beside him. "Don't you have a diner to run?"

Will could feel the blood begin to boil under his skin. Tyler was purposely pushing his buttons, trying to get Will to hit him. Will turned his head to see just why Tyler wanted him to throw a punch. He let out a breath and crossed the street. He forced a smile on his face. "Hey Emma."

Jess couldn't believe he was here. He couldn't understand why or how he allowed himself to get into these messes. You're a victim of habit, he told himself. And that was probably true. He never could out his foot down. He couldn't just say no and be done with it. He allowed the people around him to persuade him from his decisions. He was soft. He wasn't always that man. He became that man nearly two decades ago when he allowed a blue eyed beauty captivate him. Rory never did let go of that hold.

Jess didn't bother to look up when someone sat beside him on the bench. He took a deep breath and stared at his shoes. "So, did you do it?" he asked.

"Yes," Rory replied softly.

"And?"

Rory took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm making an appointment for next week." Jess let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. This was going to be a big mess. "You're going to come with me right?"

"What?"

"To the appointment. Are you going to come with me?"

"I don't think I should."

"Please Jess. I need you to be there."

He sat back and started to scratch his head. Say no, he was telling himself. Take a stand and say no! But the words coming out of his mouth were much different. "I have to work all next week so tell me when it is and I'll make sure my lunch break is at that time."

"Thank you Jess."

Jess didn't say anything. He just nodded his head and kept from making eye contact with her. He hated himself for the man he was. He was a widower comforting another man's wife. He was disgusted with himself. What made him even more sick to his stomach was the fact most of the arguments he had with his late wife was about Rory. It was about Jess's never ending need to help her and make sure she was happy.

Joan knew how much Jess had cared for Rory. And though Jess denied it, Joan knew he still loved her. She believe he had settled for her. Jess tried to convince his wife that she was the love of his life, but a part of her wouldn't allow herself to believe that. When Joan had passed away, Jess had to live with the fact that his wife believed she was only second in his life.

"I need to get back to work. Lo…" Jess stopped himself from mentioning Logan's name. "I might get in trouble for taking more than an hour break."

"Oh. Ok. So I guess I'll call you later?"

"Yeah. I guess." Jess stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. "If I'm not home, call my cell."

"Alright. Thanks again."

"Yeah. No problem. Hey Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell anyone I'm doing this for you."

"Why…"

"Please. Just…keep it to yourself. I don't want people to ask questions."

"Alright. Whatever you want."

"If I got what I wanted, we wouldn't be having this conversation." On that note, Jess proceeded down the street to work.

Rory sat by herself for a while longer. She watched a group of small children pass her by. She remembered coming to the park as a little girl and envying the other girls who came with their daddies. She had hoped Logan would take their kids to the park to play, but those moments were few and far between. Logan was a busy man whose schedule rarely allowed him to spend afternoons at the park with his children. Lori and Hope spent those afternoons with Luke. He always made time for the girls and he would make time for Nathan when it came time.

"I hope Luke will be up to spending his time with one more baby," Rory sighed as she placed a hand on her stomach. She grabbed her purse and headed home.

Little did she know, someone was sitting behind her on a nearby bench and could hear every word she said. He grinned to himself and turned around to watch Rory walk away. "Mary, Mary, quite contrary," Tristin laughed to himself. Oh, he was going to have a lot of fun with this one.

Lorelai walked out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen to find Luke at the stove. She walked up behind him. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed his shoulder.

"Mm. Smells good," she said.

"Me or the food?" Luke joked.

"Both." Lorelai peaked over his shoulder to look at what he was making. "Bacon, eggs, hash browns, and pancakes? When did you have time to make all of this?"

"You know, there are people that wake up before eight thirty on a Sunday. Now, go sit down at the table. Breakfast will be ready in a minute. There's coffee on the table."

"Ah. You do love me."

"Something like that," Luke joked. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before she headed to the table. A minute later, Luke walked over to the table with two plates in hand. He noticed that the once full coffee pot was now less than half empty. "You drank a whole pot of coffee in less than five minutes?"

"You act surprised."

"I am. You usually inhale that stuff in three."

"What can I say? I'm off my game."

Luke laughed as he placed a plate in front of Lorelai. They sat in silence for a while. "Can we talk about something?"

Lorelai looked up at Luke, a little surprised. "Um, sure. About what?"

"I wanted to talk about Richie and the operation." Lorelai sighed and put her fork down. She sat back and waited to hear what her husband had to say. "We've done our research and the statistics say it's a good idea."

"Well, how are we going to pay for it? We put the money your dad left you when we got married toward college funds and savings for the kids. We don't have forty thousand dollars laying around."

"I know we don't. I'll get the money."

"How?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm not going to do anything illegal. Just know I'll get the money." Lorelai shook her head. "Why don't you want this for Richie?"

"What if something goes wrong?"

"Then we'll deal Lorelai."

"But then we'll be doing this for nothing."

"We're giving him a chance at a better life. I think that constitutes as something."

"But is it worth the risk?"

"Life is about risks Lorelai."

"Are we still talking about Richie or are we talking about you?"

Luke raised a brow. "What?"

"Oh don't play dumb Luke. I know."

"You know what?"

"I know your big secret." Luke froze, unable to breathe now. "Did you honestly think you could keep it from me?"

"H…how…"

"Sookie told me."

"Sookie? How does Sookie know?"

"Jackson told her."

"How does Jackson know?"

"The same thing happened to him! Luke, why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know how."

"You could have just told me." She started to play with the food remaining on her plate. "I'll tell you one thing. I'm very happy about this."

Luke nearly choked on his food. "Excuse me?"

"Luke, this is a wonderful thing! You really deserve this."

Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was his wife seriously saying she was happy he had a heart condition? "I'm sorry. You lost me for a minute. Did you just say I deserve this?"

"Yes." Now he was mortified. "You're an essential part of this town. You've lived here longer than anyone else so why not? It's only right that they honor you with this honor. I admit, I didn't want to believe it at first, because come on. It's you. But then I got to thinking and I realized that you really, truly deserve this."

"I don't think I do."

"Of course you do honey. This is a really big honor. Luke, you're a town elder! And not just any town elder either. You're the head town elder!" The color started to return to Luke's face. For a while, he thought he was going to have a heart attack right then and there. "I know you're skeptical about town stuff, but trust me. This is a good thing."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Luke allowed himself to smile. "You know what, you're right. This is a good thing. And I'm glad it's happening."

"So am I."

"So, Jackson's on the board too?"

"Yeah. Jackson, Andrew, Bootsy, and Pete are all on the board. You didn't know?"

"No. Taylor didn't tell me who else would be on the board."

"Taylor? What does he have to do with anything?"

"He's handing the position over to me. It's tradition for the elders to hand select their replacements. You know, my father served on the board for five years before he passed away. And my grandfather, he was an elder for twenty years."

"Wow. That's quite a family history."

"Yup."

"Well, Mr. Danes, I plan to show you just how much I appreciate you," Lorelai said seductively as she got up and sat on his lap.

"Oh really? What about breakfast?"

"I'm hungry for something else."

Next time on "Breakaway": Lori walks in on Will and finds him in a very compromising position. Lorelai plans a big party for Luke. Richard meets up with a designer for his office. Luke overwhelms himself trying to find a way to pay for Richie's operation and has an anxiety attack, which Max witnesses.

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I was going over this fic the other day and I was taking alook at the teenagers' pairings and I realized that Lori didn't have a love interest. So I thought it would be fun if you, the reader, chose who that certain someone would be. You can pick from any of the male teens in the story (introduced or not) or we can create a character. There'll be a poll on my board for you guys to finalize the decision. Yeah, that's about it. No witty comments. If you review, I'll love you forever.