Chapter Two

Anna picked up April a little after six. As soon as they were gone, Luke left the diner and walked to Lorelai's. He hesitated a few seconds before climbing the front stairs to the porch. After another hesitation, he tried the door knob, but it was locked, so he took out his keys and unlocked it.

When he opened the door, it stopped with only enough space for him to get his hand in – Lorelai had the safety chain on it. He closed the door, then knocked on it a couple of times.

"Lorelai! It's me! The door's locked!"

After waiting a short while, he knocked, harder, and yelled louder.

"Lorelai! Hey! Unlock the door!"

From somewhere inside, he heard a muffled, "No. Go home. Nobody's here."

"Come on, Lorelai. Open the door. I know you're mad. At least you can do is let me explain."

After a dozen seconds, Lorelai opened the door, without removing the chain.

"There's nothing you have to say I'd be interested in hearing."

And she closed the door.

"I fell asleep! I sat down for a just minute and I fell asleep. I meant to come right back."

She opened the door again.

"You shouldn't have left. There was no good reason for you to run off like that."

She shut it again.

"Okay, maybe you're right, but I did. And I'm sorry. I know how much you wanted to beat out Kirk this year, and because of me, you didn't. But there's always next year."

The door opened once more.

"Beating Kirk is the least of it. You left me! You ran off with April and her mother like you were ashamed to be seen with me!"

"No! that wasn't it. I just . . . . "

"We're engaged, Luke! We're going to be married! We're supposed to be able to tell each other everything. No secrets! That's what you told me! But my god, could there be any bigger secret than the fact that you have a daughter? And not only did you not tell me about her, but you won't even let me get to know her. Oh, and just out of curiosity -- does she even know about ME? That we're engaged? Does she know she's the reason you postponed our wedding?"

Lorelai shook her head in disgust.

"Never mind. It's like you said, you did it; it's done. Okay. Fine. Then we have nothing to talk about."

The door slammed shut a third time.

"Lorelai, don't be like that. We have to talk. We have to get this straightened out."

A muffled "no" came through the door.

Luke knocked a couple more times, then said, "I'm not leaving until we talk about this."

There was silence.

After another minute or two, Luke said, "Lorelai, I'm not leaving."

More silence.

Then just about the time Luke decided he would leave and try again the next day, Lorelai opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.

"Okay. You want to talk, so let's talk."

"Can't we go inside? It's getting cold out here."

"It's not nearly as cold out here as it would be inside, believe me."

TBC