Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Warner Brothers or Dorothy Parker Drank Here or anyone else attached in any way with Gilmore Girls.

Chapter 9 – Missing Pieces

Luke's internal clock woke him at 5:00 AM. He had to extricate himself from Lorelai without disturbing her which was a feat in itself since she had wrapped herself around him. Once he had disentangled himself, he had dressed as quietly a possible though it probably didn't matter. Lorelai seemed to be dead to the world. "Good," he thought, she really needs to sleep."

Before Luke headed downstairs, he wrote a little note to Lorelai. He used to leave her little notes all the time, but then he sort of quit. It dawned on him that he stopped writing these silly notes around the time April appeared in his life. "Well Danes," he thought to himself, "just another thing for you to feel guilty about."

He placed the note on the mirror in the bathroom where she was sure to see it. It simply said, "Morning Sleeping Beauty! I had to leave for the diner. Come by as soon as you get up and I'll make you a special breakfast, but NO COFFEE! Love, L".

The diner had been unusually busy all morning. Several of the towns' people had commented that Luke's seemed to be in a good mood but Luke had completely ignored them. Obviously the rumor mill was running at full power. The probably knew that he had spent the night at Lorelai's. He knew he wasn't acting any different than any other day even though his mood was 100 times lighter than it had been for a month. He really didn't feel exactly happy just a lot more hopeful.

Lorelai and Rory didn't show up until almost 11:30 AM. Luke was becoming concern that they wouldn't show up at all. He was visibly relieved when he saw them.

When they first walked in Lorelai had scanned the diner anxiously until she saw Luke. Their eyes locked together for an instant before she and Rory moved to take a table.

Luke came over to their table, presumably to take their orders. He did want to get their order but he also was looking to gage Lorelai's mood.

"What can I get you?" Luke asked searching Lorelai's face. Their eyes locked again and for Luke the whole world momentarily disappeared.

"You with a side of bacon." replied Lorelai sassily.

"You have me." Luke whispered and then blushed when he remembered that Rory was setting right there.

Rory giggled but restrained herself from saying, "Oh, that's so cute!" She didn't want Luke to die of embarrassment.

Luke, now studying his order pads intensely, tried again, "You in the mood for breakfast food or lunch?"

"Well, since it's after 11:00 and closer to noon, I'm thinking brunch. So what do you have on your brunch menu?"

Pretending to be annoyed, he replied, "There is only one menu and it serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between." Then he spoke a little softer and more intimately, "If you're in the mood for something not on the menu, tell me and I'll try to make it for you."

"Ooooh, special treatment! I want Peking Duck with Mandarin Pancakes and …"

Luke cut her off before she could continue, "Lorelai!"

"Well, you asked." Taking a deep breath, Lorelai answered seriously this time, "A Texas omelet with extra cheddar and jack, chocolate chip pancakes with bacon and sausage, oh, also an order of chili cheese fries."

Luke gave her a look like his stomach was bothering him and said, "And that's it?"

"Plus apple pie; with cheese; à la mode."

"You done?"

Lorelai gave him a big smile as an answer.

"Rory?"

"I'll have a double cheese burger with chili cheese fries. Oh, and apple pie plain, please."

"You got it." Luke left to make their orders but then he saw Miss Patty just coming in.

"Lorelai darling, I heard you were back…"

Luke deftly blocked Patty's path and maneuvered her toward the opposite side of the diner, saying "Why don't you sit over here, Patty?"

Patty was not easily dissuaded but Luke was determined. Before Patty could protest too much, Luke gave her a look that froze the words in her mouth.

Rory and Lorelai had just begun a verbal banter over who was at fault for Nick and Jessica's breakup when Miss Patty entered the diner. As soon as Patty began to speak Lorelai's face instantly froze with a look of terror.

Rory had expected her mother to be uncomfortable talking to the town gossips like Miss Patty, but the stricken look on Lorelai's face caught her off guard. Plus, suddenly Lorelai seemed to be having difficulty catching her breath.

Rory's voice was full of concern when she asked, "Mom?"

Lorelai wasn't aware that Luke's actions had thwarted Patty's attempt to question her. As soon as she heard Patty's voice, Lorelai experienced a full blown panic attack and everything else disappeared. All she could think about was getting out of there.

Without a word or gesture, Lorelai leaped from her chair, ran out of the diner, jumped in the Jeep and drove away.

Rory, taken back by Lorelai's abrupt departure, was too slow to react to stop her. Lorelai was already out of the diner and rounding the front of the Jeep before Rory could disengage herself from the chair and table.

Luke had his back to Lorelai when he heard Rory's plaintive cry of "Mom?" He turned around just in time to see Lorelai racing down the steps of the diner towards the Jeep.

Both Rory and Luke bolted from the diner trying to catch Lorelai before she drove off but they were too late. Now, standing outside, they stared at each totally mystified. Each was hoping the other one of them understood what happened. Neither did.

"What happened?" Luke finally asked.

Rory just shook her head as she responded, "I'm not sure. You saw her, she was fine and then Miss Patty came in and Mom just sort of freaked."

Luke responded with just a hint of panic of his own in his voice, "I was keeping Patty away from her because I knew she would upset her. I had taken care of it. Didn't she know that? I won't let anyone hurt her."

"Calm down Luke, it'll be alright. I think she's just a little emotional right now." Rory looked around and then whispered, "You know, because of the hormones. She'll just drive around for a little while and then come to her senses. I'll probably find her at home feeling foolish about the whole thing."

"Maybe."

"Trust me, I know Mom. You just stay here and I'll have her call you. Don't worry, she won't leave again. I promise."

"Okay." Luke replied trying to sound more confident than he felt. The last time Lorelai ran off like this she was gone almost a month and he still didn't know where she had been. Of course, Rory knew which gave him some level of confidence but not much.

Rory headed off on foot towards the house. She was trying to reassure herself that Lorelai would be there and waiting for her but she wasn't haven't much luck.

Rory was about 75 percent confident that Lorelai wouldn't drive far before she calmed down. She figured that Lorelai would come home at that point. "She wouldn't drive to Boston again." Rory said trying to convince herself.

There was no sign of Lorelai when Rory got home. Rory tried her cell but it just went to voice mail.

It would be pointless to call Christopher at this point since there was no way that Lorelai could get to Boston in 15 minutes. Plus, Rory didn't want her dad involved in whatever this was if it wasn't necessary. If Lorelai did show up at Christopher's, Rory felt certain that he would call her.

Rory just sat there waiting and thinking and hoping.

Luke walked back into the diner a little scared, frustrated and angry. The look on his face should have warned everyone to stay clear, but Patty wasn't always a very good judge of when to leave people alone.

As soon as Luke was in the diner, she started talking, "You know dear, Lorelai seemed a bit distressed. Did you say or do something to upset her again because she just came back and…"

Before Patty could finish her thought, Luke exploded. "You know Patty maybe some people find your constant meddling in their personal business to be a real pain in the ass. Did it ever occur to you that Lorelai didn't want to sit in here and be subjected to your intrusive interrogation? Did you everthink that all your questions can actually make things worse? Lorelai ran out of here to get away from you not me."

With that Luke hollered to Caesar that he was going upstairs.

Luke stormed upstairs. He had to get away from Patty and all the loonies in the town. They were making him crazy. Lorelai was making him crazy.

Where is she? Why did she run like that? Sure Patty is a pain in the ass and she is too damn nosey but Lorelai used to be able to handle Patty just fine. What set her off today?

Maybe it is because of the pregnancy.

Luke walked over to his desk and picked up a book. He had originally bought this book for T.J. Liz's pregnancy was making her kind of looney (Hey, he thought, our kids will be about the same age. Okay, that's off the point.). T.J., though a certified loon himself, was really trying hard to be understanding and good to Liz. It was just that he's such a screw up and was always doing the wrong thing.

Every time that he upset Liz, T.J. would end up talking to Luke. Luke would spend hours trying to explain the situation to T.J. So finally he went out and bought this book to give to T.J. hoping that he would read it and start figuring things out on his own.

The book is "What to Expect When You're Expecting?" Unfortunately, reading the book made T.J. crazier which in turn made Liz crazier. Luke took the book away from T.J.

Now it might come in handy with Lorelai. He turned to the section on mood swings and began to read it.

Boy that fit Lorelai to a tee. According to this book the hormones could make a woman moods just turn on a dime. The least little silly thing could cause a mood swing. Plus if the woman was under a lot of stress, the hormones could trigger severe depression and anxiety. Stress was definitely bad for pregnant women and their babies.

"Great," thought Luke. "Lorelai is a walking time bomb."

The good news was that the mood swings should level off around the fourth month. "Thank God," he thought, "at least it's temporary."

Now all he needed to do is find her. Since Rory hadn't called yet, he could assume that Lorelai hadn't come home yet. Where would she go?

Luke thought for a minute and then it hit him. "Damn!" he thought, "I bet she's there."

Luke grabbed his keys and left.

Rory was really starting to get worried. She had been almost positive that Lorelai would come home. But she hadn't.

"Okay, where would she go?" asked Rory to herself. Suddenly the answer came to her. "Shoot, I should of thought of that first."

Rory call The Dragonfly. Michel answered, "Dragonfly Inn, Michel speaking."

"Michel, this is Rory is my mom there?"

"Rory? Rory? I know no Rory. I used to know a Rory whose mother worked here at the Dragonfly but this woman just walked out and abandoned her job. I had to start doing her job and mine. So I do not know this Rory that you speak of any more."

"Michel, just tell me if Mom is there? "

"I have not seen Lorelai in a month. That is why I am still doing her work as well as my own."

"Are you sure?"

"Look, I am not blind and though it has been weeks since I last saw her, I believe that I could still recognize her. She is not here."

"Maybe she came in the back way. Let me talk to Sookie, Michel."

Though he was offended that Rory would insinuate that Lorelai could possible come to the Dragonfly and not talk to him, he did as Rory requested and transferred her call to the kitchen.

When Sookie answered, Rory quickly began the conversation with, "Is Mom there?"

"Hey Rory, no I haven't see your Mom yet. Was she coming in this morning, because I thought that she wasn't planning on starting back to work until Monday? If she's coming in I better warn Michel to behave. You know that he adores Lorelai and has missed her so much but he tends to be a little abrasive when he feels sentimental. Why did you think she might be here?"

"Oh Sookie, Mom freaked out at the diner and ran off again."

"What? What did Luke do?"

Sookie had called earlier in the day before Lorelai got up. Rory had talked with her and filled her in on everything that had happened since they had returned home.

"Sookie, Luke didn't do anything. He's been great with Mom. No, it was Miss Patty. We had just ordered breakfast and things were good. Mom and Luke sort of flirted, it was cute and then Patty walked in and was heading over to us to talk with Mom. Luke had actually blocked her path, but Mom just freaked out anyway. You should have seen her face."

"Then she just bolted out of the diner without a word. Luke and I haven't been able to find her since."

Sookie was taken back by all of this. "Sweetie," she asked in a conspiratorial tone, "you don't think she'd head back to your dad's place?"

"I'm pretty sure that she won't but I guess it's possible. I don't know, but I have a feeling that she won't go that far. This is different than last time. Are you sure that she is not hiding at the Dragonfly?"

"Well, she hasn't come back here to the kitchen and if Michel hasn't seen her, I don't think that she's anywhere around."

"Oh," Rory replied disappointedly, "if you see her Sookie, please keep her there and call me!"

"I will do kid. You'll let me know as soon as she shows up, okay?"

"Thanks Sookie."

When Sookie hung up the phone, she was definitely worried. Lorelai always tended to run when things got too bad but just taking off because of Miss Parry seemed far out there even for Lorelai.

Sookie picked up a sack of food scraps to take them outside. She likes to save as much of the garbage that she could for Jackson's compost but Lorelai didn't like her do that. She claimed that it was too smelly.

So Jackson had bought two special locking lid garbage containers and would hide one of them in the back away from the inn where no one saw or smelled it. Sookie would sneak garbage out whenever no one was looking and dump it in the container. Then every couple of days, Jackson would come and collect the container filled with garbage and leaves the empty one.

The system worked great and Jackson was making some fine rich composite for fertilizer.

As Sookie was dumping the garbage in the container, she noticed something behind the horse barn. It was Lorelai's Jeep. Sookie ran back as quickly as possible and called Rory.

Luke drove up the back way to the Dragonfly looking for Lorelai. He figured that she would want to be alone so she wouldn't actually go into the Inn itself. He was right. Hidden behind the horse barn was Lorelai's Jeep.

Luke parked the truck behind the Jeep (he was consciously blocking her in so she couldn't escape). As he headed into the barn, he thought to himself, "Lorelai loves those damn horses."

Cletus and Desdemona eyed Luke suspiciously as he looked into their stalls for Lorelai. He didn't find her but there were four more empty stalls still to search.

He found her in the second empty stall that he looked into. She was curled up tight, hugging her knees to her chest sitting on a bale of hay in the corner.

Luke walked in and sat down next to Lorelai on the hay bale. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. They sat there like that for a minute or so. Then Luke asked, "So, are you ready to tell me what's going on?"

"No, there's nothing to tell."

"Lorelai, talk to me."

"It was stupid. I just didn't want to talk with Patty and I got a little crazy."

"Uh huh." Luke scrutinized her face for a minute, took a long look at the inside of the stall andgot up. After a deep breathe, he started to do something really strange. He began moving the bales of hay around.

Lorelai watched this with great curiosity but didn't comment. She noted that this seemed to be a really bizarre response to their previous and very short conversation.

Also she noted this sudden show of physical strength by Luke was doing wonders to change her mood. Moving all those bales was pretty impressive since she knew each one weighed around 70 pounds.

Luke worked hard to move and lift them and seemed to be building a sort of wall, like a privacy wall, between where she was sitting and the door to the stall. Then he moved more bales around the area where she was sitting to form a sort of a platform bed.

As he moved the bales around, he had gotten hot and took off the flannel shirt. Watching Luke hoist all of these bales in just his tee shirt was kind of fun. She could watch his muscles flex and contract. Plus the tee shirt was getting sort of sweaty and was really clinging to his body.

When he finished with the bales, he turn without saying a word and just walked out. She had no idea what to make of all of this or where he was going. This was all kind of weird. She didn't know what to do but she figured she would just play along with whatever game he was up to. At some point Luke would tell her what was going on.

Luke walked outside to his truck. He was planning on calling Rory but didn't have to. She was standing right there.

Rory was a little shocked when Luke walked out of the barn. First thing she noticed was his trademark flannel shirt was missing. Plus he was sweaty and covered in hay.

Her first thought was that Luke and her mom had just had a roll in the hay, literally. She suppressed the giggle.

As he removed an old blanket that he carried behind the seat in the truck, he explained to Rory what he planned to do. She agreed that it was a good idea. He also gave her a task which caused her to immediately leave and head to the Dragonfly to complete.

He walked back into the stall where Lorelai was sitting. He pulled her up to stand and then spread out the blanket over the hay bale platform that he had built. Then he lay down on the blanket and pulled Lorelai in next to him.

They just lay there cuddling for a few minutes. Lorelai was feeling really happy. Luke had built them their own private little secret get-away. No one would know that they were in here. It was so sweet!

As Lorelai snuggled close, Luke pulled her tighter to him and kissed her forehead. He could tell that she was much calmer and more relaxed.

So he finally spoke. "We're going to talk."

He could sense her tense up a little as she turned her head to look at him in surprise.

Luke waited for Lorelai to say something but she didn't. So he began.

"Why did you run out of the diner?"

"I told you, I didn't want to talk with Patty."

"I got that but why the freak out? You can handle Patty. You're the queen diversion and evasiveness." Luke's eyes were searching her face intensely.

"Not always." Lorelai responded though clearly uncomfortable with the conversation.

"So what were you so afraid that she would find out about? The baby?"

"Yes," she replied almost too fast. "I am not ready to broadcast that yet." Lorelai sounded weak and unsteady and she had begun to fidget noticeably.

Luke looked deeply in her eyes and quietly said, "You're lying, I don't believer you. There's something you don't want to tell me, isn't there?"

Lorelai eyes flashed angrily at Luke and then changed to a look of determination. "We're broken up. I don't have to tell you anything." Lorelai then tried to pull out of Luke's hold but he wasn't letting her go.

Luke looked intensely at Lorelai and said, "I told you that there is nothing you can say that will make me let you go again."

"What to bet?" she replied defiantly.

"Just tell me."

"Where did you think I went after that night? I'll tell you, I went to Christopher. Yes, that's right, Christopher. You want to know why, because I was lost and broken and I needed someone."

This time Lorelai was able to twist out of Luke's arms. She stood up in front of him and faced him boldly.

Luke didn't say a word but simply sat up, took a hold of her wrists and didn't let go.

"I had no one else so I went to Christopher, because he had been so good to me after Lane's wedding. Oh yeah, you never really heard what really happened at Lane's wedding did you? That's because the whole town covered up for me and lied to you."

"Oh I got drunk but there was no singing involved. I was drunk and I tried to make a toast to congratulate Lane and Zach on being able to actually pull off a wedding at the young age of 22. But the toast turned in to my sad confession of my failure to accomplish the same feat with the man I love."

"See I already knew that our wedding was never going to happen, that there was no room in your life for both April and me. I confessed to the whole town that I was never getting married, that you and I would never make it to that altar. I made a complete and pitiful fool of myself and Christopher rescued me."

"He carried me home and stayed with me until he was sure I was alright. He was sweet and caring and supportive. So naturally when you rejected me I turned to Christopher."

"You probably won't believe me, but I no recollection of actually driving to Boston that night. The only thing I can really remember is knocking at his door. Everything else is sort of a blur, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is I went there that night and woke up in his bed naked this next morning."

By the time Lorelai finished talking, her voice had risen to almost a scream. Her heart was beating fast and she was shaking in rage. Her eyes were searing into Luke's daring him to run.

Luke had become paler the more she talked and he hadn't made a sound the whole time she was speaking, but he was still looking into her eyes when she finished and he hadn't let go of her wrists.

Rory was struggling with the server cart over the uneven terrain in the barn. Luke had asked her to get Sookie to fix them some sandwiches. He was concerned that Lorelai still hadn't eaten anything. That wasn't good for her or the baby.

When Rory had told Sookie of the request for food, she of course had over-reacted. She had prepared an entire banquet. Now Rory was left with the task of transporting all of this to the barn.

When she rolled the cart into the barn, she could hear her mother's voice but couldn't make out what she was saying. Rory hesitated at the stall door but then decided to roll the cart all the way into the stall so Luke would know that the food had arrived.

Once in, she could actually make out the words that her mother was saying. Lorelai was making it sound like she and Christopher had sex that night and she was confessing it to Luke! Is that really what her mother thought had happened?

Did Lorelai really notknow what had occurred that night? Did Christopher not tell her? Rory was upset to know that her mother had lived with this guilt for no reason for the past month. Though when she thought about it that sort of explained a lot. Her mother had been beating herself up over something that never happened.

Rory moved around the makeshift hay bale wall and stood in view of Luke and Lorelai. Luke noticed her first and turned his gaze towards her. Lorelai's eyes followed Luke's and grew wide when she saw her daughter standing there.

Rory boldly stepped forward and said, "Mom, that's not exactly what happened. I know you don't remember but Dad should have told you the truth."

(Tbc)

A/N This was a tough chapter for me to write for some reason. I really struggled so I hope that I did it justice. I have rewritten it so many times that I am no longer able to judge. PLEASE read and review and let me know.