Chapter 2: "Luke, say something."

Several hours later, Lorelai again looked at her surroundings and was amazed at how very different this night was turning out than how she thought it would. When she had woken up that morning, she had been sad, lonely, and depressed over the state of her relationship with Luke. Now, here she was jetting off to Vegas with him to get married - and in first class no less. She had been a bit surprised to learn that Luke had gotten them first class tickets, but, then again, maybe she shouldn't have been after she has seen how Luke had gone all out for the soccer team he sponsored last fall.

Lorelai glanced over at Luke, who was sleeping in the seat next to her. He looked so peaceful when he slept. She had never told anyone, not even Luke, but she loved watching him sleep. Something about it made her feel so safe. She had missed this the past few weeks.
Wanting to make sure that she wasn't dreaming all that was happening, Lorelai reached out and gently ran her hand down Luke's face, delighting in the feel of his stubble under her fingertips. Luke stirred and opened his eyes. "I didn't mean to wake you," she whispered. "Go back to sleep"

Luke just shook is head and sat up. "I'm good." He stretched a little, and then turned to Lorelai. "I've been wanting to ask you about something you said earlier"

"I thought we agreed not to talk about any of that," Lorelai replied a bit nervously. She really didn't want to remember any of what she said now that they were on their way to get married.

"No, that was your idea. I think we need to talk about it. You were clearly upset, so I think we need to get it all out on the table"

"Don't you mean folding tray?" Lorelai quipped, trying to lighten the mood as she pointed to the tray that was unfolded before her"

Luke, however, was having none of that. "Lorelai, I'm being serious. I don't want to go into our marriage with any unresolved issues." When Lorelai finally nodded, he continued. "Okay, since we have obviously solved the whole getting married thing, let's start with the one that seemed to bother you the most. Actually, I think it bothered me the most. When did you talk to Anna and what did she say that got you so upset"

Though she didn't really want to talk about it or to even remember what Anna had said, Lorelai agreed with Luke. If she wanted to start her marriage off right and if she expected Luke to be honest with her, she needed to be honest with him. Taking a deep breath, she said, "It was the day after you came home all upset about the fact Anna had yelled at you for having me at April's party. I went to her store figuring if I could meet her and talk to her she might see that I'm a nice person and there was nothing for her to have worried about. I mean, I was always the favorite of all the Star Hollow's moms. Well, except for Mrs. Kim and I don't think Mother Teresa would have been good enough to watch her daughter. Mother Teresa might have introduced Lane to wearing all black or something." She paused for a moment to regather her thoughts. "Well, things didn't exactly go as planned. Anna told me that she NEVER introduced April to any of the men she was dating until she knew it was extremely serious, that way April didn't get emotionally involved with something that was just passing through their lives. I told her I understood that completely because I had the same rule when Rory was growing up, but that you and I weren't merely dating. We're engaged after all. She then said that engaged is not married. Engagements, she went on to explain, don't always happen and she didn't want me around April right now and when, and if, you and I indeed got married that we would deal with everything then. She apologized for coming off as semingly harsh, but that was the way she wanted things at the moment"

After Lorelai finished her story, she sat there biting her lip waiting for Luke to respond. When he just sat there, completely silent, she started to get worried. "Luke," she said quietly, "say something." Another few minutes went by. "Okay, now you're scaring me"

Suddenly Luke snorted angrily. "Where in the hell does she get off?" When the other passengers around them hushed him, he lowered his voice. "She has absolutelyno right to mandate who I do and do not let April see. Those might be her rules, but that doesn't mean I have to follow them. Who exactly does she think I'm going to introduce April to anyway - Charles Manson? You and I have known each other for 10 years. Ten years! And we had dated for over a year and were already engaged when I found out about April. So, according to her, if you and I were not dating, it would be all right for me to have introduced you. How does a piece of paper and a blood test change my level of commitment to you? And people who are married can still get divorced. I'm a perfect example of that. I chose not to introduce you to April at first because I knew how much she would adore you and I wanted time to get to know her. But that was MY choice. Anna has NO right to command MY fiance to stay away from MY daughter. And another thing . . "

Lorelai just sat there and watched Luke rant. Man, had she missed those. He was always so cute when he got indignant about something. Well, he was cute when the rant was not over something she had done. She broke into a small smile that caused Luke to stop mid-rant.

"What"

Lorelai only smiled wider. "I've missed your rants." Then a thought crossed her mind that caused her smile to fade.

"What?" Luke asked again.

"I think I know why Anna said those things"

"Because she's a . . ."

"No," Lorelai interrupted. "Because she is jealous." At Luke's snort, she continued, "I don't know why the two of you broke up, but I think she knows a good thing when she sees it. And I don't know why she didn't tell you about April all those years ago, but I think that she sees now what she missed out on and she regrets it. She wants you back and I'm a threat to that happening"

"No, you make it a non-issue." Luke responded with a stubborn note to his voice.

"Thanks for saying that, but . . ."

"But what?" Luke asked softly.

"Anna is my Chris"

"Huh?"

"Just as you don't like Chris coming around because I always seem to jump in to help every time he asks for it, you do the same with Anna. I know it's partly because they are the other parent to our daughters and they will always be a part of our lives, even though we might not always want them to be. But I also know that there can be this temptation to picture yourself with that person, to want to be a complete family - mom, dad, and kid. So when you jumped at the chance to postpone our wedding and then never reset the date, I thought . . . I thought maybe you had reconsidered marrying me. I thought you might leave me for Anna . . . and April." As Lorelai finished, a lone tear escaped as she finally admitted the fear that had been plaguing her the past few weeks. She didn't notice the stunned look that crossed Luke's face.

"That was never going to happen," he whispered as he pulled Lorelai into his arms. "How could you even think that"

Tears started flowing down Lorelai's face as the weeks of doubt and frustration caught up to her. "You didn't want me to even meet April or Anna. You kept the whole thing a secret for two months. What did you think I was going to do, yell at you for having a kid? Hello, I have one myself that I got at a MUCH younger age. At least you were an adult. It felt like you didn't trust me. Then after I found out about April and you still didn't introduce me to her, it felt like you were trying to hide me. I know you explained it, but it still hurt. You were always with April or Anna. I can't fault you for wanting to spend time with your daughter, not one bit. I know you two need to get to know each other. And I know that you want to have a smooth relationship with Anna. Again, I understand. Why do you think I put up with Chris? But then you let Anna buy you luggage. That's my job. And you meet her again and again on days when April was not coming without telling me about it. Think about how it feels when I meet Chris without telling you. You even told me how much Anna and I are alike. I guess I just thought that you might want to go start that family you talked about the night we got engaged, to go buy the plant and the furniture, but only do it with the person who had already given you the child you said might be nice. And even better for you, she's not addicted to coffee"

Luke pulled Lorelai even tighter to him, which caused her to break down even more. He said, in a horse voice full of emotion, "YOU are the one I want, Lorelai. No one else. I love YOU. I thought you knew that. I never meant to cause you any doubt or pain. I thought you knew how much you meant to me. You know I am not good at the whole expressing myself thing, but I should have told you how I felt more. But you know how I am. I can only deal with one thing going on in my life at a time. You said you were okay with the whole April thing, so I thought I could concentrate on building a relationship with her, that you and I were in a good place. The funny thing is, I just told TJ recently that sometimes you have to look past what a person is saying in order to hear what they are REALLY saying. I should have taken my own advice. I guess I did push you away. Please know that I never meant to. I'm so sorry. Man, no wonder you screamed at me earlier. I'm surprised you didn't do it sooner"

Luke's last admission caused Lorelai to chuckle a little. "So am I, but I realized in talking with someone tonight that is not the Gilmore way. We don't talk, we hide behind polite conversation. We don't discuss, we suppress. We don't reveal, we bury things so deeply that they either turn into bitterness or explode like a volcano"

"That's not very healthy," Luke said as he tucked a strand of hair behind Lorelai's ear.

"Well, we wouldn't want my emotional habits to be any different than my eating habits, now would we?" Lorelai tossed back. Then she sighed. "I know it's not the right way to handle things and I almost lost you because of it"

"You're not going to lose me, Lorelai. I told you on our first date that I was all in and I still am. I know what it feels like to lose you and I never want to have to go through that again. Oh, and just so we are clear on this, I was the one that broke with Anna back when we dated. And it obviously didn't affect her too much since April had three men that she needed to test to see which one was her father"

"I didn't think of that. Man, none of the women you date never seem to realize that they have, do they? Well, except me that is"

Luke kissed the top of Lorelai's head. "And you are the only one that matters. So, we okay now"

Lorelai nodded. "Yes, I think we are"

"And you now completely realize that you are the ONLY one I want, not Anna, not Rachel, not Nicole, or any other women you might be able to think of"

"What about Miss Patty? She has always admired your butt and I've heard that she had many a good time on a large set of drums she once owned." Lorelai teased, knowing how uncomfortable Miss Patty's obvious ogling always made Luke.

"Jeez, Lorelai. Way to ruin the mood," Luke said, indignantly.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to keep you around because it is so hard to find someone who makes coffee as good as you do or who looks as good in flannel and a backwards baseball cap or . . ." Lorelai never got to finish because Luke silenced her with a kiss.

Author's Notes: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that posted a review for this story. I'm glad you are liking it so far. As for the short first chapter, I was going to write about them packing, but it seemed kind of boring since I knew that I would not have them talking about the whole Anna/April thing until they were on the plane. The following chapters will be longer than the first one. From what I foresee, this chapter will be the second shortest, but I cannot guarantee that. I have the story completely outlined and will break the chapters were it feels natural, usually in a change of scenery - such as moving from Lorelai's house to the plane. I will write the chapters and post them as quickly as I can. I have outside commitments that take up some of my week, so I will try to use my free time wisely.

Some people might not agree with me on what Anna's motives are in regards to Luke and Lorelai. This is just my take on her. I also feel that Luke would never intentionally hurt Lorelai. The character of Luke as I see him has always sort of pined after Lorelai. I mean, the man kept the horoscope she gave him in his wallet for eight years, through the time he got back with Rachel and during when he "married" Nicole. (I use quotes because I feel that though they were legally married, they never were emotionally.) Anyway, I tried to keep things as true to the story line that the show portrayed while still putting my own take on it. Please take it or leave is as you want. : )

Again, thank you to all who have read my story and to those who have taken the time to review. You are what inspires me to keep writing!