The Ties That Stab pt. 2

Luke Danes looked up as the diner's bell rang, and a tall, brunette man walked in, wearing jeans, a plain blue t-shirt and a leather jacket. "Ricky Gilmore."

Rick grinned. "I don't care if you're marrying my sister, you ever call me Ricky again, and I'm kicking you in the face."

Luke walked over and shook his hand. "How you doin?"

"Been better," Rick grimaced.

"You fought with Emily and Richard, huh?" Luke asked.

Rick raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"

"You and Lorelai have the same grumpy face. What'll ya have?"

Rick sighed and sat down at the counter. "Coffee, cheese eggs, bacon, sausage, blueberry pancakes, cheese fries, and a side of burger."

Luke stared at him in horror. "Side of...You are her twin."

At that moment, Lorelai walked in and sat down next to Rick. "I'll have what he's

having."

"No, you won't," Luke snapped.

Lorelai smiled. "Coffee, cheese eggs, bacon, blueberry pancakes, cheese fries and

a side of burger."

"You forgot the sausage," Rick muttered.

Lorelai gasped. "How dare I!"

Luke sighed. "I can't believe I'm marrying you."

Rick gave him a weird look. "I'm not marrying you. You're too scruffy for me."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Giant mounds of food coming right up."

"Don't forget that coffee!" Rick grinned, and then shook his head. "You and Luke. I still can't believe you finally got it together."

Lorelai sighed. "Well, after the disasters of relationships I've had...it's nice to have one that works."

"It is," Rick nodded.

Lorelai gave her brother a look. "So...?"

"What?"

"Girlfriend?"

Rick smirked. "I've given up on women. I'm gay now."

Lorelai snorted. "Are not."

"Renee dumped me," Rick told her plainly.

"No!"

He nodded. "Yup. Fourth of July."

"How come?" Lorelai asked.

"She said she was bored."

"Of you?"

Rick nodded again. "Yup."

Lorelai pouted. "My poor brother!"

Rick smirked and nudged her. "It's okay. I don't need a girlfriend."

She stared at him in shock. "Oh, my god. You're single?"

"I am."

"This is the first time in ten years!"

He narrowed his eyes. "Six."

"Still!" Lorelai cried.

"I can make cheap shots, too, y'know."

She smiled. "Sorry. Change of subject. What are you doing today?"

"Coming to work with you," Rick announced.

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Rick nodded. "Gonna give Michel a wedgie."

"He already has one."

"Can I go scare the pants off of Sookie?"

Lorelai laughed. "Rick, you are not nineteen anymore! And don't you have a job?"

"I'm my own boss!" Rick cried. "I don't need me to go to work today!"

Lorelai sighed heavily. "Yes, I forgot, Mr. Publishing Agency doesn't need to do work anymore."

He frowned. "Now we're getting bitter? I came here to spend time with you."

Lorelai sighed again and rested her head on his shoulder. "Sorry. This whole Rory thing has me all messed up..."

Rick kissed her on the head. "You leave that to me."

"What are you gonna do?"

Rick grinned innocently as Luke set down their coffee.

Lorelai lifted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. "Richard Gilmore Junior..."

He sipped his coffee. "Don't you worry. I've got everything under control."

She kept staring at him. "That's exactly what you said when you collapsed the garage when we were thirteen."

"That was not my fault," Rick said.

Lorelai grinned. "Science experiments were not meant to be done where the jag lives."

"The jag wasn't home," Rick replied.

"The garage caved in on itself!"

Rick held out a hand in defense. "It's not a big deal."

"What isn't?" Luke asked as walked by them.

"Rick destroyed the garage when we were thirteen," Lorelai replied.

Luke blinked. "What! How!"

Lorelai snickered. "Science."

"Smooth," Luke nodded.

Rick looked scandalized. "Everyone's makin' a fuss!"

Lorelai laughed. "Mom almost killed you."

"I wasn't allowed out of my room for two weeks," Rick told Luke. "I had to be

escorted to school."

"Luckily Dad wanted a new garage anyways. So he didn't care," Lorelai finished.

Luke watched the two siblings sip their coffee together, and laugh. "Hey Rick."

Rick looked up suddenly. "What? Food?"

"It's coming up..." Luke replied. "You wanna be a groomsman?"

Rick looked surprised. "Me?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, the other Rick sitting in your chair."

Lorelai smiled and rested her head on Rick's shoulder again.

"Uh..Sure!" Rick replied, giving the other man a smile. "Okay!"

Luke nodded. "Good. I'm gonna go check on your food." With that, he walked

off.

Lorelai got up from her stool to follow. "Luke..."

"Yeah?" he replied, not turning around.

"You've started picking out groomsman?" she asked with a bigger smile than

before.

"I just thought I'd ask," Luke replied, walking back into the storage room.

"Do you have anyone else picked out?" Lorelai asked, still following him.

He shrugged as he took down a large jar of pickles. "I don't know…Jess,

maybe."

Lorelai's smile faded a little. "Jess…your nephew, Jess?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah."

"Bu…well…he's still alive?"

Luke snickered a little. "Yeah. He is."

"And he's…going to actually show up?"

"He's not the same kid he was," Luke told her. "He's chilled out a lot."

She sighed. "Okay."

"You don't want him in the wedding…"

"No!" Lorelai cried. "No, I'm not saying that…I'm just…surprised. I didn't

know you guys still kept in touch."

Luke nodded. "We talk every couple of weeks."

"Wow," Lorelai replied. "Well…good! That's good that you guys keep in touch…"

"You're weirded out," Luke nodded.

"I am not!" Lorelai said. "I'm not weirded out."

"You are."

"Okay, maybe a little."

"Why are we even talking about this?" Luke asked. "We don't even have a date set."

Lorelai sighed. "You're right. We'll talk about it…after we set a date." She turned to walk out of the store room, and was face-to-face with her brother.

"You don't have a date set?" Rick asked, shocked.

"We're waiting until after things with Rory get better," Lorelai explained.

"You need to set a date!" Rick cried.

"We will," Luke said.

Rick's face turned sour. "I'll be in Harford."

"What about your food?" Luke asked.

Rick stopped. "After breakfast." With that, he walked back to his seat at the counter.