Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I have any association with the Gilmore Girls or any of its characters. Dreaming about them is a totally different thing...

Chapter 8

The Monday after the incident at school, Lorelai was asked a million questions about what happened the night of the party between her and Luke by Sookie, Sarah, Carrie, and the two other girls she had made friends with- Gypsy and Lulu. Liz was part of the group, but she already knew the story. Luke, on the other hand, wasn't asked a single question. Kevin, Kirk, Jackson, and Andrew knew it wasn't wise to bring up the subject unless he initiated the conversation. They knew what kind of animal Luke was and they'd tried very hard to contain him. They weren't about to throw that hard work down the drain.

"I wanna know who it was," Luke stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Just let it go," Jackson pleaded. "Nothing happened between you two, so no harm done."

"No harm done? If I wasn't drunk as hell and sitting on that damn bench, Lorelai could have left with someone else and God knows what would have happened to her!"

"But you were drunk and she left with you," Andrew remarked. "Quit worrying about would have happened and be glad nothing did."

"Luke, I know you're mad, but telling you who was behind this isn't going to help anyone," Kevin remarked. "You're my best friend and I don't want to see you do something you'll regret."

"Really? Well, I almost did something I would have regretted that night," Luke stated. "I may not have done anything with Lorelai, but it crossed my mind. It lingered there for a long time. After seeing Rachel with that guy, I just didn't care. I would have brought Lorelai home and done something with her if she wanted me to. I hate myself for wanting to and I am not going to put this to rest until I take care of business."

Kevin took a deep breath. "Just let it go. Please, let it go."

Luke cocked a brow at his friend. Then it hit him. "You know who it was, don't you?"

"It doesn't matter…"

"Why not?" Kevin looked away from his best friend's glare. "It was him wasn't it?"

"You need to let this go right now."

"It was Ivan. We all know he would have taken advantage of Lorelai if he had the chance!"

"IF! If he had the chance! But he didn't. Even if he did, I would have stopped him."

"Like you stopped me from leaving with Lorelai?"

"I would have stopped him."

"How? How would you have stopped your stupid brother from taking Lorelai somewhere and…" Luke let out a growl. He didn't even want to think about what would have happened.

"I don't know. I don't know how I would have stopped him, but I would have found a way. He was drunk and he would have slipped up. I would have found him and stopped him. Luke, I need you to let this go. For me, just let it go."

"He wasn't drunk," Kirk pipped in.

"What?" Luke asked.

"Ivan wasn't drunk."

"Kirk, what the hell are you talking about?" Kevin asked.

"I saw him when you chased after Luke. Ivan wasn't anywhere near drunk. He knew exactly what he was doing."


Present Day

"Oh great," Lorelai said suddenly.

"What?" Rory asked.

"I just remembered I need to wash your sheets."

"Why?"

"Because I haven't washed them in three weeks."

"Ew! You mean to tell me you haven't done the laundry since the last time I was in town?"

"No, I'm telling you I haven't washed your bed sheets since the last time you were in town."

"You told me last week you washed them."

"I'm a compulsive liar?"

"Mom."

"I'll wash them when I get home."

"Are the guestroom sheets washed?"

"I just said I was gonna wash your sheets when I got home. You don't believe me?"

"No, I do. It's just…well…"

"Well what?"

"I didn't exactly come alone."


1984

"You're lucky Luke came to your rescue," Sookie said. "If anyone else saw what kind of shape you were in, you would have been…they would have…thank God for Luke."

"You can say that again," Lorelai sighed.

"That's the kind of guy Luke is," Sarah remarked. "He's like a super hero, coming to the rescue whenever a beautiful damsel is in distress and you're his prime damsel."

"I am not."

"Are you kidding? I've never seen him run to someone's rescue faster than he does yours," Liz remarked. "If he even thinks you're in trouble, he's at your side on the drop of a dime."

"Face it Lorelai, you're the Cinderella to his Prince Charming," Sookie joked. "The Bonnie to his Clyde. The Mary Jane to his Peter Parker. The Louise Lane to his Clark Kent…"

"Ok Sookie, I think we get the point," Gypsy said.

"I think it's sweet that he's always there," Lulu remarked shyly.

"Think what you want, but Luke does not always come to my rescue," Lorelai said. "He's not some knight in shining armor that rides up on his white horse to slay the evil dragon and rescue me from the tallest room in the tallest tower. He's a friend that's there when I need him."

"Speaking of evil dragons, look who's coming," Sarah spat.

They all turned around to see Ivan heading their way. He had a sick grin across his face. "Well, well, well," he said. "If it isn't Lorelai Gilmore."

"Go away Ivan," Sookie spat instantly.

"The last time I saw you, you were all over Butch Danes. I bet he was all over you too. Rumor has it, you two had one hell of a night."

"That's a lie Ivan so why don't you just go," Liz suggested.

"Your precious brother tell you that? It ever occur to you that he lied to you? He could have gotten it on with Lorelai and told you otherwise. Hell, I bet he told Lorelai otherwise. Maybe, he didn't have to lie to Lorelai. Maybe he…didn't have to try. We all know he's got a thing for women…like Lorelai."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lorelai asked angrily.

"I'm saying maybe he didn't have to try. Very hard at least. I mean, what would you expect from a chick with a kid at sixteen? It wouldn't be very hard to get you into bed would it? Did Luke have to beg? Or did he pay up front?"

"Ok, that's enough," Sarah said, stepping between Ivan and her friends. "You've gone too far."

"Why don't you stay outta this Sarah? You know, I don't get what my brother sees in you because when I look at you all I see is a bitch."

"And when I look at you, I see primordial slime. So go crawl back under your rock and rot."

"You really need to leave," Lorelai stated.

"Or what? Your boyfriend gonna make me? Butch Danes is nothin' but a pussy."

Just then, in the blink of an eye, Luke ran up behind Ivan and knocked him out with a powerful close line to the back of his head. All the girls screamed and jumped out of the way. Luke slowly headed back to where Ivan lay on the ground with a purpose. Ivan felt like he was hit by a train. Luke didn't even let him get back to his feet. He gave him a swift, hard kick to the gut with his large boot, flipping him onto his back. Luke stood over Ivan and grabbed him by the collar, lifting his upper body off the ground.

"You listen to me you sick son of a bitch," Luke growled. "If you go anywhere near Lorelai ever again, I will kill you. I swear to God, I will tear you limb from fucking limb!"

"Fuck you," Ivan spat.

That only pissed Luke off. Luke reared his right arm back and brought it back with a harsh blow. He continued to pound the living daylight out of the other man, not caring who was watching. Luke was vicious. He continually beat Ivan, even though he knew the other man couldn't fight back if he tried. Jackson, Andrew, Kirk, and Kevin all came running.

"Luke!" Jackson yelled as he tried to pry his friend off of Ivan. "That's enough! Stop already!"

"He's bleeding!" Andrew shouted as he tried to help Jackson in the effort. "For Christ's sake, you made him bleed already!" They were successful in pulling Luke off and holding him back.

"You're going to hell Ivan!" Luke yelled. "You're going to hell and I'm personally going to send you there!"

"That's enough Luke! You did the damage! That's it! It's over!" Jackson yelled.

"Cool it man!" Andrew screamed.

"Alright, alright already!" Kevin shouted. "That's enough Luke. Leave him alone already! He's still my brother!"

"Let me go already," Luke said.

"Not until you chill," Jackson said.

"I'm cool alright? I'm done. I won't hit him." Jackson and Andrew hesitantly let Luke go.

"You'd better get outta here Ivan before Luke gets his second wind back," Kevin warned. Ivan scurried to his feet and quickly limped away.

"And tell your buddies that if they try something like this, I'm coming after them too!" Luke called after his victim. He looked down at his fist and noticed the blood on his knuckles. Maybe he did get a little carried away.

"Every time," Sookie said to Lorelai. "It must feel nice to have your personal super hero."

Later that day after school, Luke was headed toward his truck with his head down. He hadn't spoken to anyone since his fight during lunch. He didn't know what came over him. He just kept hearing Kirk saying, "He wasn't drunk. He knew exactly what he was doing" playing over and over in his mind. Then he saw the gutless bastard near Lorelai. He just snapped. He dropped his backpack and ran toward Ivan Gleason with full force and hit him. He was so caught up in momentum, he couldn't stop himself from pummeling the guy. The worst part about it, he did it in front of Lorelai. She stood five feet away, watching in horror as he lost his mind and nearly killed a guy. I should be put away, he thought to himself.

"Luke!" Lorelai called as she ran toward him. "Luke wait!"

He got out of the truck and shut the door, waiting for Lorelai to catch up with him. "If this is about earlier, I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what came over me. I'd just found out about what Ivan tried to pull the other night at the party. I saw the guy and I lost it. I didn't mean to scare you or anything."

"Don't worry about it Luke. Actually, I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?"

"For what you did."

"You wanna thank me for almost killing a guy?"

"I wanna thank you for sticking up for me. For protecting me."

"Oh. That. It was nothing."

"No, it was definitely something. Thank you Luke."

"You're welcome."

"Hey, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?"

"I'm having dinner with my family, but before that I'm free."

"Would you like to spend Thanksgiving with me and Rory?"

Luke smiled. "Yeah. I'd love to."

"Great. Thanksgiving, lunch time, my place. Be there."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."


Present Day

"Hurry up and order already Kirk," Luke sighed.

"It all looks so good," Kirk said.

"You've been sitting there for fifteen minutes Kirk."

"Maybe I should get the…no. I had that on Tuesday."

"Order something or get out."

"Coffee and a doughnut."

"You mean to tell me you called me over here fifteen minutes ago, sat there staring at a menu, and you're only ordering coffee and a doughnut?"

"Yes."

Luke was about to strangle Kirk when the phone rang. He walked behind the counter and answered the phone. "Luke's."

"She's not alone," Lorelai said immediately.

"What? Who is this?"

"Your wife you idiot."

"Who didn't come alone?"

"Rory."

"But she's not supposed to be home for another week. We need to wash her sheets."

"I know and I know. Luke, you're missing the point here. Rory didn't come home alone."

"Well, we were expecting Paris anyway. She's always welcome in the…"

"It's not Paris."

"It's not? Then who'd she bring?"


Next time on "The Broken Road": In 1984- Luke celebrates Thanksgiving with the Gilmore Girls. Richard is shocked to hear Lorelai is spending the holiday with a man. In the Present Day- Rory becomes suspicious of Luke and Lorelai's behavior at the diner.

A/N: Now who do you think Rory brought? To be honest, I don't even know. Hahaha. I kinda forgot, but it'll come back to me. Eventually. Another thing, while you're reading this, remember that Patty's version and the version you're reading are two totally different versions. Patty is giving the clean-cut, PG version while you're getting the real deal. Now, I'm going to go over there and pray to God that Scott doesn't leave the show. Let's face it. No one could ever be Luke like Scott. While doing so, I'm gonna make myself tea because I spent half an hour yelling at my TV last nightfor ending the season the way it did and my vocals are killing me. He's gonna say yes! He better say yes! Lol.