A/N: Well, this is it. The last chapter. The final installment. The ultimate offering. I'm all done! (Can I have a cookie now?) This was a hard chapter to write (I know, everybody says that) but…

I could have kept on going, but I had to find a good place to end or the story would have been 742 chapters long! Thank y'all for your patience with erratic updates in between finals, term papers, and college graduations, and for such supportive reviews- over a hundred! I'm really flattered, thank you!

A special thanks to the following (in no particular order) for giving me a major incentive (aka kick in the pants) to keep going and actually finish the story by informing me in no uncertain terms in their reviews that I would be eaten by a poison-injecting-slow-chewing turtle if I didn't:

Chmelms, MizJoely, suusje32, Scottjunkie, Rachaellovestoread, orangesherbert7, Hamlets-pirate, apple705, flirtswithdisaster, Christi06, Javajunkie101, Lukedanesloverr, LaurenIsMe, BluJPlover, Xmaschild, Bellybuttonsrcool, XAddisonShepardX, LukeAndLorelaiAlways, Erica Bing, Prunenikel, Borncountry88, PuffingNoise, Aida, Muffin aux carottes, CharmedGurlie, JJSoulmatesLL, JavaJunkie22, Love2rite, Lukenlorelai4life, Amanda6292, Jade-Tessier

Seriously, it's amazing and so encouraging to know that there are people out there who like what I write and who want to read more.

My sisters and I are pulling a Season 3 Gilmore and backpacking through Europe this summer (what would Emily say?) so I won't be around for awhile. Take care everyone, and hope you like the final chapter!

Six Weeks Later

"I wanna do it."

"No."

"Luke, come on! It's my turn."

"No way. I'm not suicidal."

"I'm not gonna hurt it," she pouted, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Long experience says otherwise."

She stuck her tongue out and edged closer to the stove. "You just don't want anyone else to play with your spatula."

He tried very hard to keep a straight face. "Dirty," he informed her matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I know." She stood by his side and leaned her head against his arm. They were in her kitchen cooking breakfast. Well, Luke was cooking breakfast. The only thing he'd let her do was make the coffee, which of course he wasn't going to drink.

"Please?" she tried again. "I wanna flip."

He sighed loudly and a tad theatrically, but relinquished the spatula. "Fine. But you've already flipped."

She crowed triumphantly as she took the spatula and started poking the pancakes. Luke rolled his eyes and went back to the cupboards, pulling out all the ingredients he'd just put away.

"What are you doing?" she demanded indignantly.

"Making a new batch for when you ruin those," he shrugged easily.

She made a shocked face. "Luke! I am hurt that you have so little faith in my abilities," she scolded. She wrinkled her nose as the edge of one of the pancakes started to burn, and reconsidered. "And impressed that you know me so well."

He grinned at her as he broke two eggs into the mixing bowl. She took one more look at her handiwork in the frying pan and sighed, turning the heat off and abandoning it as a lost cause. Happily she returned to her coffee cup at the kitchen table and went back to watching Luke cook breakfast. It was such a good system, really. So efficient. It wasn't broken, so why fix it?

He walked back over to the stove, limping only a little from the knee-high walking cast he still wore on his left leg. It was remarkable how quickly he'd healed after the accident, but, as she'd told his doctor, she might not be much of a cook- but she was a hell of a nurse.

"So I talked to my mother yesterday," she began casually. Luke nodded, concentrating on the pancakes. Nowadays that kind of announcement wasn't usually cause for alarm, since Lorelai had entered into a cautiously healthy relationship with her mother. They were remarkably civil to one another, especially since Emily had taken a much less judgmental interest in Lorelai's life and had actually grown a new pair of ears to listen with. It was far from perfect, though, and part of Luke was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. On his head.

"She said to tell you thank you for coming by the other day to drop off her DAR banner, and that she's bought you a new hat."

Luke snorted. "Excuse me?"

"That's what I said. I thought it was a DAR tablecloth that you picked up for her, but apparently not. Banner, tablecloth, same difference."

"What kind of hat?" Luke asked warily, ignoring the irrelevant ramble.

Lorelai grinned wickedly. "You know my mother. They don't make baseball hats in her world, so she probably bought you a derby. Or a bowler. Or hey, maybe even a top hat! That would be cool, I could borrow it."

"Lorelai, I think it's great that you and your mother are getting along so well, but please, tell her not to buy me a hat. Ever."

"I can't do that," Lorelai answered solemnly. "I think it's the only thing holding us together."

"Terrific."

Lorelai turned back to her coffee, laughing to herself. Grumpy Luke was so much fun.

He slid a plate of pancakes in front of her and sat down to his own breakfast- granola and yogurt. Lorelai made a face. "You eat weird food," she informed him.

"You have a weird family," he responded wryly.

"Look who's talking," she scoffed around a mouthful of syrup-drenched pancake.

His smile faded abruptly, and he toyed with his yogurt spoon before looking up at her, considering.

"Lorelai?"

"Luke?" she imitated his serious tone mischievously.

He smiled faintly, recognizing that she was in her witty and sarcastic mocking mood. "Never mind."

Lorelai bit her lip and mentally kicked herself for shutting him down. Communicating with Luke wasn't exactly hard, but it was complicated. He didn't open up very often, and when he did he did so reluctantly. She knew she needed to be more alert to the signals when he wanted to tell her something, and promised herself she'd be better from now on. She was still learning.

"I'm sorry, hon," she apologized. "Please, talk to me."

He deliberately looked away. "Were you ever going to tell me?" he asked noncommittally.

"Probably," she answered airily, having no idea what he was talking about. "Tell you what?"

He rolled his eyes. "Tell me that Jess came to the hospital."

Lorelai blinked. She definitely hadn't been expecting that.

"Jess came to the hospital?" she stalled.

"Lorelai…" he said warningly. She could tell he was running out of patience.

"Jess came to the hospital," she repeated, sighing deeply. Tentatively she reached out and took his hand, and felt ridiculously relieved when he didn't pull away. "How did you know?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head like it didn't matter. "One of the nurses mentioned some scruffy teenage family member who came by," he said off-handedly. "Only one person I know who fits that description." She knew very well his careless tone was there to protect his vulnerable heart.

Lorelai sighed again. "I didn't see him, only heard him," she explained. "He was tormenting some poor night nurse outside the door. They thought I was asleep, and he didn't come in." She tightened her grip on his hand. "I didn't tell you because… he didn't stay. He didn't want anyone to know he'd been there, and…" She blew out an exasperated breath. "I didn't want to tell you in case Rory found out, for one, and because I didn't want to tell you that your nephew didn't stick around to see if you were okay." She scooted her chair around the table so she could look directly into his face. "Luke, he really does care about you, you know."

He cleared his throat and looked at her skeptically. "Yeah, we have a real bond," he said dryly.

"You do," she countered, ignoring his sarcasm. "You made a difference in that kid's life, and he's never going to forget it. He's never going to forget you, and he knows he owes you. Jess isn't stupid. He knows what you did for him, and he knows that you care about him. He just has to figure himself out."

"It's taking him long enough," Luke grumbled.

"Yeah, well," Lorelai grinned. "That quiet, moody-broody behavior must be in the genes."

He looked at her, resigned amusement in his eyes.

"He'll be back, Luke," she said with conviction. "Not yet. He's not ready. But one day, trust me- he'll be back." She paused, smiling. "Not that I'm thrilled about that, mind you. That kid is trouble."

He reached over and pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms securely about her. "I hope you're right," he confessed wearily, leaning his chin against her shoulder. A thought occurred to him, and he pulled back slightly to look at her. "How did he know to come to the hospital in the first place?" he asked quizzically.

"Rory called, almost as soon as we got to the hospital," Lorelai explained, playing absently with the buttons on his shirt. "She left a message for your sister in New York. Liz didn't get it, but Jess did."

Luke nodded thoughtfully.

"I called him, too," Lorelai added conversationally. "Once we knew you were going to be okay, I called him. He didn't answer, but I'm pretty sure he got the message."

Luke studied her. "You did that for him?" he asked with mild surprise.

"No," she shook her head warmly, slipping one arm around his neck. "I did it for you." He felt weak from the glow in her eyes. She lowered her head until her lips were next to his ear. "I'd do anything for you, Luke Danes."

He raised an eyebrow. "Anything?" he repeated.

"Anything."

An uncontrollable grin spread across his face as he tightened his grip around her. "Well, in that case…" he murmured, lowering his lips to her neck.

She laughed richly. "I thought you were supposed to be an invalid," she teased.

"Guess not," he breathed, and slowly let his lips touch hers. She shuddered as tiny tendrils of passion shot down her spine. "Luke…" she whispered as they parted. He kissed her again, and she couldn't do anything else but give in to him. He ran his hands over her body, and she pressed even closer to him, opening her mouth. As the kiss intensified he started to reach for the buttons on her shirt. Neither of them were aware of anything but each other, not even the quiet sound of the front door opening.

"Mom, I'm ho- oh, my god," Rory gasped as she walked innocently into the kitchen. Her armful of cardboard boxes fell to the floor with a thud.

Lorelai yanked herself away from Luke, regarding her daughter with guilty eyes and swollen lips. Luke turned bright red and couldn't even look at Rory.

"Hi, hon," Lorelai greeted in a voice higher than usual. "Did you find what you needed at Lane's?"

"Uh-huh," Rory answered awkwardly. "Her mom had millions of boxes, so…" she edged cautiously into the kitchen, just far enough to gather her boxes and slide sideways into her room. "So I'll just be in here, packing, and listening to music, you know- really loud." She shut the door with grateful finality.

Lorelai bit her lip, feeling a ridiculous urge to laugh. "Whoops," was all she said.

"Yeah, whoops," Luke agreed dryly.

"Hey, you started it," she said accusingly, getting up off his lap. "And you burned my pancakes."

"I'll never do it again," he promised, feigning seriousness.

"Hmm, not sure if I'm okay with that," she mused aloud.

"What, me not burning the pancakes?" Lazily he got to his feet and came to stand beside her, inspecting the breakfast casualties.

"You know, once Rory moves to college next week, this won't happen anymore," Lorelai pointed out suddenly.

"Pancake slaughter?" Luke clarified.

She rolled her eyes at him. "No," she said, sweetly withering. She regarded him carefully. "It will be awfully strange, living in this big house all by myself."

"Really," he commented, sliding a hand around her waist.

"Yes," she answered slowly, leaning against him. "If only I knew a nice fella who could move in to save me from my loneliness."

He drew in a thoughtful breath against her hair. "Are you sure?" he asked quietly.

She smiled, certain. "Positive."

He was quiet for a moment. "Tell Rory to save her extra boxes," he finally said.

She turned in his arms to face him, slipping her arms around his neck. He'd never seen that look in her eyes before- a look of absolute certainty, confidence, and perfect happiness. "I love you, Luke," she said softly.

"I love you too," he smiled, and he kissed her, to the sounds of the Ramones blasting from Rory's room.