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 17- Guess who's coming to dinner

Luke cursed himself as he slammed the door to his old apartment shut. After locking the door, he shoved the key into his pocket and stomped the whole way downstairs. It was a warning to everyone in the diner that he wasn't in the mood to play any games. Irritated Luke was someone you didn't want to cross.

"What do you want?" he growled at a customer as he pulled the ordering pad out of his pants.

A very frightened Dave stared up at his girlfriend's boss. He was too scared to form words and it angered Luke more. Lane mouthed 'Order something' to Dave.

"Ch…cheese burger, fr…fries, and a s…soda," Dave stuttered.

Luke scribbled the order down and walked behind the counter. He told Caesar the order and went to get something out of the storage room. Lane took the opportunity to talk to Dave.

"He scares me," Dave stated. "He's in a worse mood than…an hour ago. Why is he so mad?"

"I don't know. Lorelai was here earlier, but he was actually happy."

"Happy Luke scares me more than angry Luke."

"Anyway, they went upstairs and came back…that."

"Are Luke and Lorelai fighting?"

"I don't think so. They probably just got into an argument."

"About what?"

"Who Rory decided to bring?"

"Well, then now I get it," Dave said with a chuckle and nod. "I couldn't believe it when I found out Rory invited him to come. Luke and Lorelai must have been pissed."

"You know who Rory brought?"

"Yeah. I saw him in Rory's car at the gas station just outside of town. I thought you knew."

"Rory isn't telling anyone who it is."

"Maybe she decided to prepare her parents."

"Dave, it isn't who I think it is, is it?"

Suddenly, a loud crash came from the storage room. The thud was followed by a stream of profanities and growl. Luke walked out of the storage room and into the kitchen, grumbling to himself. Lane and Dave peeked into the storage room and winced when they saw the damage Luke had done.

"He took out a whole shelf!" Dave remarked in amazement.

"You should see what he did to the refrigerator last week."


Lorelai peeked into the kitchen and looked around for Sookie before walking in. Sookie was at the counter chopping vegetables. Lorelai took a deep breath and headed toward her friend. She felt horrible about blowing up at Sookie earlier, but after seeing the roses in the tiny apartment she, Luke, and Rory shared for five years, she felt worse and she needed to talk to someone.

"Hey," Lorelai greeted.

Sookie looked up for a second. "Hey," she greeted.

"Sook, about earlier…"

"It's ok."

"No, Sookie, I yelled at you and I really shouldn't have. It's just…"

Sookie held up a hand to silence her friend. "You don't have to explain Lorelai. I know."

"You know?" Sookie nodded. "But…how?"

"Jackson told me, but I'm pretty sure the whole town knows by now."

"The whole town? I can't believe this. What are they saying?"

"I don't know if the whole town knows. But I'm sure a few people do. Why didn't you tell me?"

Lorelai sighed and hopped onto a stool. "I don't know. It got complicated and I didn't know how to tell people."

"I know what you mean. I mean, how do you explain that? But I gotta tell you, I was really relieved when I found out."

Lorelai's head shot up and she raised a brow. "What?"

"I was beginning to worry that it was a really big deal."

"Sookie, this is a big deal! A huge deal!"

"Now I think you're over reacting," Sookie chuckled.

"I think you're crazy if you don't think this is a big deal!"

"You'll get over it Lorelai."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"You're still upset aren't you?"

"You think?"

Sookie sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. You were acting so weird this morning and I was afraid something was wrong with you and Luke. Then Jackson told me he saw him and it all made sense. I'd be upset too if I were you and I'm sure Luke wasn't too thrilled either…"

"Sookie, what are you talking about?"

"Rory bringing you know who to celebrate yours and Luke's anniversary."

"You know who?" Then it hit Lorelai. Sookie didn't know about her and Luke. "Oh! Yeah. Of course. Him. yeah. Uh huh. I was really mad."

Sookie went back to chopping vegetables. "I can't believe he's here."

"The nerve of him," Lorelai played along.

"I mean, after what he did…" Sookie shook her head. "I'm telling you, he better not try anything funny or…" She ran her thumb along her neck in a swift motion.

That's when Lorelai realized who Sookie was talking about, who Rory had brought. "I'm sorry Sook, I have to go." She grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

"Lorelai, where are you going? Is everything ok?"

"Everything's fine. I'll call you later."

With that, Lorelai ran out of the room. She quickly made her way out of the inn, waving off a complaining Michel as she power walked to her car. She took out her phone and tried calling Luke. She had to warn him before it was too late. She tried his cell phone, but of course, he didn't answer it. Then she tried the diner. Caesar answered.

"I'm sorry Lorelai," Caesar said. "He's not here."

"Where'd he go?" Lorelai asked as she drove down the street.

"He went home. He was in a real nasty mood so I didn't ask why."

"He didn't happen to hear anything about who Rory brought home did he?"

"Rory's home?"

"Never mind. Thanks Caesar." Lorelai hung up and tried Luke's cell again. "Come on Luke. Pick up your phone! I could be lying in a ditch, bleeding to death. Urgh! What's the point of having a cell phone if you're not going to answer it?"

Lorelai tossed her phone onto the passenger's seat and drove faster. She prayed to God she'd beat Luke home or that Rory wasn't there at least. Luke was just getting out of his car when she pulled up behind him in the driveway. He stopped and stared at her as she got out of her car.

"Are you insane?" he asked. "Why are you driving like a mad woman? Never mind, I know the answer to that."

Lorelai searched across the street for Rory's car as she headed toward Luke. It was no where to be seen. "Thank God. Rory's not home," she sighed.

"You told me you washed her sheets earlier."

"I did!"

"So you're just insane and don't want Rory to see when the guys in white jackets drag you off."

"She brought home a boy."

"Thanks for reminding me. I'm gonna go crawl under the house and die now."

"And not just any boy. She brought…" Lorelai paused. She didn't really think through this. She didn't know how to tell Luke without getting him completely upset.

"Lorelai. She brought…who?" She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "Did she ask Naked Guy to come?"

"Huh?"

"Naked Guy. You know, the guy that was naked in the dorm hall her freshman year at Yale."

"Oh, Marty. No. It's not Marty."

"Or is it that guy from Chilton? The jerk that always called her Mary. What was his name?"

"Tristan?"

"That's it! Tristan. Is it Tristan?" Lorelai shook her head. "Dean?" She shook her head again. "Oh no. It's not…did she…is it Logan Huntzberger?" Before Lorelai could answer, she spotted Rory's car heading down the street. And he was in the passenger's seat.

Luke never did like Logan. Mainly because of the time he found Rory in a compromising position with the young Mr. Huntzberger. He thought Logan was a disrespectful rich boy. The kind of man Lorelai's parents had wanted her to end up with. Luke didn't trust Logan's type from experience. Nicole, his ex-girlfriend from way back, was a rich girl and he didn't have enough money to get her to stay faithful. Then there was Lorelai's ex-boyfriend, Jason Stiles. He had been an asshole far beyond words. Luke wanted to kill him for the things he did.

And finally, there was Christopher Hayden- Rory's father. The son of a bitch chose money over his own kid. Rory hadn't even known he existed until she was three. She didn't meet him until she was seven. How a guy could abandon a girl like Rory was beyond Luke's understanding. He tried his best to keep Rory away from guys like Jason Stiles and Christopher Hayden.

Luke put his hands on her shoulders and made her look at him. "Lorelai, please tell me our daughter didn't bring Logan," he said.

"She didn't bring Logan," Lorelai replied softly.

"Then who did she bring?"

Just then, Rory pulled up to the curb and she and her guest got out of the car. Lorelai watched them as they silently made their way up the path toward them.

This is going to be a disaster, Lorelai thought. Luke's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill Rory. He's gonna kill him!

Luke hadn't realized a car pulled up. Lorelai was freaking him out and now she wasn't even looking at him. If it wasn't Dean or Marty the Naked Guy or Tristan the Chilton Jerk, then who…then it hit him. There was only one other person it could possibly be who would made such a disaster of things even before his arrival.

No, Luke thought to himself. It couldn't…he can't…she wouldn't…

He looked up at Lorelai for reassurance that it wasn't him. She gave no encouraging sign. She sighed one of those 'see for yourself' sighs and looked past her husband. She was telling him to turn around with her eyes, but he shook his head. If he didn't see it, it wasn't true.

"Mom! Dad!" Rory called as she picked up her pace. He guest did not. He kept a safe distance using the even strides they started out with. She turned Luke and Lorelai in an angle so they weren't able to see who was coming up the path- because apparently she didn't think Lorelai already saw him. "I'm sorry I took off like that. I just had something to do."

"Rory…" Lorelai tried to tell her daughter her cover was blown, but Rory interrupted her.

"I brought you guys a surprise," she said with a big smile.

"Ah jeez. I don't wanna know," Luke complained. He tried to leave, but Rory grabbed his arm.

"Come on. This'll just take a minute. I promise." Rory inhaled and exhaled deeply. "Ok, you know how I brought home someone to celebrate your anniversary?"

Luke and Lorelai shared a glance before replying with a long, "Yes."

"Well, I went to pick him up and…well, he's here!" She motioned for her guest to come over and he obliged. "Mom, Dad, it's…Jess."

Rory used both hands to present Jess as if he were a prize in a game show. She didn't get the reaction she had naïvely been hoping for. Lorelai let out a sigh as she lowered her head and shook it. Luke, on the other hand, reacted just as Jess had expected. He clenched his fists, an angry- er, angrier- expression took over his face, and he took hard breaths in a failing attempt to keep his cool. For the first time, ironically, Rory began to think she had done the wrong thing by bringing Jess. Her heart, though in the right place, blocked out the reason her parents disliked Luke's very own nephew when she came up with the idea to surprise them with him.

"So, how are you Uncle Luke?" Jess asked, breaking the awkward silence.

Luke didn't respond at first. He just stared the younger man down, shirking him a good six inches. Lorelai realized the second Luke's mouth opened to form words, they would be loud profane ones. She stopped him before he got the chance to let one out.

"Come on honey," she said, turning Luke toward the house and pushing him to it. "Let's go inside and we can talk."

Luke reluctantly obeyed. He quickly made his way up the porch steps and into the house, slamming the front door so hard they thought it would fall off. Rory jumped at sound of her step-father's angry actions. She too had lost a few inches.

"We, young lady, will talk about this later," Lorelai said before turning. She took a few steps before stopping to face her daughter again. "You better take Jess out for an hour or so. I have to calm your father down. Be back for dinner and he can get settled in afterwards." On that note, Lorelai went inside.

"He was mad," Rory stated as she looked down at her hands. "Maybe…maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He's already in a real foul mood."

"Luke's always in foul mood. Look, you did something because you thought they'd like it. If they can't appreciate it, then too bad," Jess said. "I mean, what's the big deal?"

"Jess, you know exactly what the big deal is. After what happened…" Rory paused for a second and took a deep breath. "They were really mad and disappointed. They don't think they can trust you after what happened."

"That was two years ago…"

"But they remember it like it was yesterday. Come on. Let's go to the book store."


"Jess? Jess?" Luke yelled as he paced around the living room. "Why? Why would she…why?"

"Maybe she thought you'd like to share this 'celebration' with your family," Lorelai remarked.

"But Jess? She knows how we feel about that punk! God! You were right! What was I thinking when I let him stay with us?"

"You were thinking he needed help and you could lend a hand. It's not your fault he screwed up. You and I did everything we could for him. He's your nephew and we did what we had to."

"Nephew or not, he's not welcome in this house."

"Luke…"

"Don't 'Luke' me. He's not staying here."

"Where's he supposed to go?"

"I don't know and I really don't care at this point."

"We can't just put him out."

"Why not? We do it to Kirk all the time. The guy sleeps naked in Town Square for Christ sake!"

"Look, if we put him out, Taylor will just get on our case for setting him loose on the town. We've got enough to deal with as is. Do not mess with me right now Luke. He's staying."

Luke stared at his wife, unable to form a rational thought. She was mad too. But it wasn't the Jess situation that was really bugging her. He knew what the real problem was and he knew better than to pick at it.

"I'll go change the sheets in the guestroom," Luke sighed. He headed for the stairs. Half way up, he looked back down into the living room and sadly, and unknowingly, watched as his wife sit on the couch this her back to him and softly began to cry. He hated when she cried. He hated it even more when she cried because of him.


Next time on "The Broken Road": In 1985 (I skipped the New Years scene)- Luke and Lorelai are more open about their relationship. Luke notices a slight change in Kevin. Sookie and the other girls question Lorelai about the seriousness of her relationship with Luke. In the Present Day- Jess and Kelly have a run in after dinner in the kitchen. Luke and Lorelai have an awkward moment when it's time to go to bed.

A/N: Sorry it took so long for an update. I thought I already had, but I'm losing my mind. I also had a few family obligations I had to tend to, all the while catching the stomach flu! How fun! For the record, it was supposed to be Logan. I started disliking him after what happened at the end of the last season and I decided to bring in Jess. We've answered the "Who's Rory's guest" question, the "What's up with Luke and Lorelai" is still in the air, and now we've added "What happened between Rory and Jess to make Luke and Lorelai hate him so much." So many questions, so little blunt clues.