A/N: All of you, thank you so much for all the reviews. I never got so many reviews on a chapter before. I would have replied personally, but I'd rather spend the time by posting this new chapter, since it's pretty slow at work at the moment and I have it on disk ;) Please continue telling me what you think of this story! And special thanks to David!

Chapter 3 – Lane's wedding video

"Hey Luke?" It was the afternoon lull and April though it was the perfect moment to get Luke upstairs.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to watch a movie with me?"

Luke turned to look at Lane, who nodded. "Sure."

They walked upstairs. "The tape is already in the VCR. Why don't you look up the beginning, I have to go the bathroom."

"Sure."

Luke turned the TV on, and with the remote in his hands he sat down on the couch. He hit the play button and was surprised when he saw Lorelai on the screen. He wanted to hit the stop button, but her appearance made him stop. He wondered how the tape got in his VCR though.

"Hello, everybody hello"

'Where is this? She seems drunk.'

"Some of you know me as Lorelai Gilmore. And some of you know me as Cher. But either way I wanted to say a few words to our girl."

The screen turned to Lane and Zack, so he knew it was their wedding. 'Maybe this is when she starts singing.'

"I've known Lane forever. And I'm just so incredibly happy that she has gotten married. I mean, I am just so happy that this adorable 22 year old girl has gotten married because it's amazing you know, it's really hard to get married. Believe me, I should know. I mean, seriously because Lane is married, and next thing it will be my daughter, and then my granddaughter, but not me. I'm not getting married. No. it ain't for me. It's not in the cards. But, hey, do you know what date I'm not getting married? June 3rd. Do not safe the date. Do you hear me? Do whatever you want on June 3rd. Because there's nothing at all happening at that date. If there's anything you need to book or something, it's totally safe to book it on June 3rd. So, congratulations Lane and Zack. Who else here had 8 shots of tequila? Anybody? Hands…. Oh my gosh, who misses the yummy bartenders? I know, me too, they were so great. I was going to ask them to not work on June 3rrd , on my not wedding. I just thought that would be so fun."

Then Christopher and Rory were standing on the stage next to Lorelai.

"Hi… Chris… and hi… Rory. Hi."

"How about some coffee?"

"What? Oh, I guess we're going over here."

Chris and Rory took Lorelai off stage. Then Lane and Zack came into view again. Luke hit the stop button. Why didn't anyone tell him about this? That's when he noticed April was looking at him.

"Dad…"

"Uhmm… I think you got the wrong tape somehow. This wasn't some movie."

"I know. I put it in there."

"What. Why?" He looked at her angrily.

"Because, dad I think it's wrong they tried to keep this from you. I know that you think Lorelai is the one to blame for your break-up. I know that you think she made all the mistakes, but I've been thinking about it. Why didn't she ever come to the diner when I was there?"

"Because I wanted to get to know you first."

"That's fair, but I've only seen her twice. First when I didn't knew how she was, and obviously she didn't know who I was too. And second at my birthday party. I really liked her dad. Why could I meet everyone in town but her?"

"It's not like I was keeping you from her. I just wanted you to like me first. Because Lorelai is Lorelai. Everybody likes her, and I…."

"You were afraid I wouldn't see you anymore once I met her?"

He looked guilty.

"That's so stupid."

"I realize that now. But she's the one who cheated on me."

April shook her head. "So it doesn't matter how much you hurt her all those months."

"No, I guess not." He suddenly got mad. "I told you yesterday that you have no right to go through my stuff. That means you have no right to dig into my life and tell me I made mistakes. I'm your father and I get to tell you what to do, not the other way around. I'm going to take you home now."

April felt tears sting behind her eyes. Never had Luke yelled at her before. She wanted nothing more than to go back to her mom, but her mom was gone all weekend. "You can't." Her voice was quiet and quivering.

"I told you already, you can not tell me what to do. Get your stuff, I'm going to take you home."

"You can't. My mom's not there." A tear escaped from her eyes.

Luke looked at his daughter. "Then fine, stay here. I'm going out." He turned around and slammed the door behind him.

April walked to her bed and let herself fall down. She hugged her pillow against her chest as she silently cried.

-xxxxxx-

Lane heard the yelling upstairs, and saw how Luke ran down the stairs and outside the diner. For two seconds she doubted which way to go, and decided to go after Luke. She had to ran to catch up with him.

"Luke stop."

He turned around when he heard his name. "What?"

"You shouldn't be mad at her. She's only trying to help."

"She has no right to barge into my life the way she does. She can't tell me what to do. I'm her father, not the other way around."

"She means well, Luke. She sees how unhappy you are, and she hears the stories. She thinks it's all her fault and now she wants to fix it."

"So obviously you're the one who gave her the tape. Why did you show it to her?"

"Because she asked me. Kirk was the one who told her what happened at my wedding, and I guess she thought it would make you understand Lorelai's side of the story more. She was unhappy Luke. She never wanted to postpone the wedding, but she did it for you. She gave you all the space you needed, even though it made her feel insecure about herself. She started believing in you and it was only a matter of time before she would let it out. It just took longer than everybody thought."

"What do you mean, what everybody thought?"

"Come on, let's sit down."

She led him into the gazebo where they sat down.

"The whole town saw how unhappy Lorelai was. They all saw how left out she felt. But she wanted to give you all the time you needed. She told Rory that many times, and Sookie too. You should talk to them if you want first-hand information. But I can tell you that she hasn't been happy in a long time. Everybody thought you moved in together when her house was finished. But then you started sleeping at the diner more often again. More than you did the past year. She was drunk when she said the things she said at my wedding, but they say that only kids and drunk people tell the truth."

He shook his head and started at his feet. He couldn't look up. "I've been an idiot."

Lane smiled. "Yes you have. But if you want my honest opinion, it's not too late. She loves you Luke. And I know you love her too."

"But she cheated on me."

"Yes she did."

Luke looked up, curious at how she was going to make this sound okay.

"She cheated on you and that hurt you, but you've been hurting her too. You both made mistakes, and you have to forgive each other if you ever want a future with her."

"What about Chris?"

"Lorelai blamed him for what happened that evening and Chris got mad at her. They haven't talked ever since. And Rory hasn't talked to him either."

"But he's her father."

"He is, but Luke, she told me so many times that you were more a father to her than he has ever been."

Luke nodded slowly, trying to take in what Lane was telling him. "I've been an ass, haven't I?"

"Yes, you have. But it's not too late. I know it's not."

"But that doesn't change the fact that she cheated on me."

"Nothing will change that Luke. But if you still want her, you have to forgive her."

"I don't think I can."

Lane shook her head. "I'm sorry to hear that. You and Lorelai have both been through so much. You're perfect for each other and nobody understands what went wrong between the two of you."

"That's simple. She cheated on me."

"And you hurt her."

"I don't see how that's worse."

"Maybe it's not. But you both hurt each other. And Luke, I honestly don't believe that Lorelai wanted to cheat on you. She never intended to do that."

"But she still did."

"And she regrets it more than anything in the world Luke. She hated herself for what she's done."

"She should."

Lane shook her head. "Do you think you could ever forgive her?"

"I don't know. She hurt me a lot."

"Like you hurt her. You have to talk to her Luke. If you still want a chance with her, you have to talk to her. You have to try and work this out. I know you still love her Luke. You wouldn't have gotten mad at April if you didn't. And I know Lorelai still loves you, no matter what happened. You have to try and make things right."

"I don't know if I can."

"You will never know if you don't try. You've seen how hurt she was at my wedding. She felt like that for months."

"She never said anything."

"Because she wanted to give you all the time you needed."

"Then how is all of this my fault?"

"I didn't say it was. Nobody ever said that. I'm just saying that you're both wrong here and you have to talk about it and learn to forgive each other. And Luke, for what it's worth, I think that even though you're mad, part of you already forgave her."

He shook his head. "I don't know."

"Just think about it okay. You have to talk to April now, and you have to think about what you want to do. But trust me when I tell you it's not too late."

He nodded and stood up without saying another word. He entered his apartment and walked to April's bed. The young girl was sleeping. Tear stains were still visible on her cheeks. He sat down next to her and ran his hand through her hair.

"I'm so sorry."

April slowly opened her eyes. "Dad?"

"I'm here."

April sat up in her bed. "I'm so sorry. I'll never ever look through your stuff again. I promise."

"It's okay. I overreacted. You were right you know. I've been an idiot."

She smiled slightly, not really knowing what to say.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What do you think of Lorelai?"

"I think she's awesome. I really like her dad. And I know she really likes you."

"Do you think I still have a chance with her?"

"I think so."

"So, what should I do?"

"You have to talk to her. You have to admit the mistakes you made and you have to forgive her for the mistakes she made. And Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"You have to tell my mom you love her."

Luke sighed. "April, I don't love your mom."

She shook her head fast. "So not what I meant. I mean, you have to tell my mom that you love Lorelai. That you are going to marry her and that you're going to spend the rest of your life with her. I happened to overhear the talk my mom had with Lorelai a few months ago, and she said that an engagement isn't the same as a marriage."

"She said that?"

"I guess my mom was a little jealous." April giggled. "Maybe it's weird that I don't want you to be with my mom, like most kids want. I think my mom is a little jealous because she has been alone all the time, but I've told her a dozen times that she can date. That I'm old enough to understand when a relationship doesn't work out. And I know that you may think I'm not because of everything I said to you, but I do. I just think that the two of you belong together. And I know that I have one mom and I don't want Lorelai to replace her, but I do think it's nice if we could be friends or something."

Luke was amazed at how smart his daughter was. Then he thought back to the night Lorelai came to him with her ultimatum. The night before everything went so wrong. But when he pictured Lorelai standing in front of him that night, and remembering the things he said he understood it better. Why she came to him that night with her ultimatum, why she said the things she said and why she wanted nothing more than to get married at that point.

"Luke?"

April shook him out of his thoughts. "When do you think I should go to her?"

"Tonight. She's probably working now."

"Right."

"And dad?"

"Yeah?"

"You should bring the boots."

T.B.C.