A/N: Insert Strong Bad voice:
Like a Phoenix, from the ashes

...she rises again!

Written in the Stars
By Gilmoregirl1979 (the reigning Quote Queen)
Provider of QUALITY Fan FICTION!

Rating: PG-13

Hi this is your friendly disclaimer: Once again, I don't own (DAMN IT! DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT!), No Harm No Sue. (JUST GIVE ME A JOB and we will call it even!)

R/R: yes please I love reviews; I wanna marry them (as previously stated, I have strange passions.)

Summary/ The Q: What if LL hooked up when they first met? What if things had moved … a touch more quickly…?

Luvz: I miss you

A/N: I've lost my beta… AGAIN! So if this sucks I'm sorry.

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Chapter 21:
Luke Is Not Christopher

The next morning, Rory was almost scared to go home. She didn't know how mad her mom would be at her staying out all night, at an undisclosed location. Rory didn't know if Luke was still at the house when her mom arrived home last night. Rory didn't know if they had a chance to really talk everything out. She didn't know if she'd be grounded for the first time for her little disappearing act, but she figured Luke and Lorelai needed the time alone to resolve whatever the problem was.

Rory stood at the front door with two possibilities before her. Either, Luke and her mom had killed each other; or they'd be making out. Rory kind of hoped it was the latter; at least then her mom would be in a good mood, and she wouldn't have to live with her grandparents.

Rory entered the foyer, nervously clutching he straps of her book bag, but the house was completely silent. "Mom?" she called into the stillness and search the house for any sign of life. She peaked in the living room, nothing. Rory went to the kitchen and poked her head inside of her room and saw that Luke's tools were still on the floor by the window, along with the old broken pane, the new one installed and in place, okay, a promising sign, knowing Luke always cleaned up from his projects. Rory put her book bag just inside her doorway, and as she turned into the kitchen again, she found Luke's army green ball cap on the floor by the sink. So she tried to call up the stairs again, "mom?"

And suddenly, from upstairs there was a light thudding, almost a bounding sound, and the shining creature that was her mother appeared on the staircase landing, beaming a 100 watt smile, "There's my girl".

Definitely in a good mood, Rory realized. "Hi mom? … How was your night?" noticing Lorelai was only wearing her robe with the roses on it.

Lorelai came down the stairs and hugged her kid, "don't you think for a second that just because you pulled a parent trap that you are not in trouble."

Sounds like a successfully sprung parent trap, "Why… whatever do you mean, mother of mine?" Rory batted her young innocent eyes, so unschooled in the art of meddling and mischief.

"First things first… where were you all night?"

"At Lanes."

"For a sleep over…" Lorelai nodded, "and how did you swing that past Mrs. Kim since I never talked with her, and Mrs. Kim wouldn't accept you in the house unless she talked to me and made all the arrangements well in advance."

"Well, we didn't exactly … have either parent's permission."

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning … I climbed up Lane's tree, snuck into her room and spent most of the night in Lane's secret closet with Cervantes and a flash light."

Lorelai had to laugh, "What? Oh Hon," and Lorelai hugged her daughter again for that sacrifice, "At least you didn't have to eat tofu" She spent a night in the closet just so she and Luke could be alone, "You didn't have to do that."

"Well I didn't see any other option, you were in denial, and Luke was in freeze out mode," Rory frantically reasoned trying to preempt the grounding.

I was in denial… more than you know, considering the Christopher revelation she had to share and analyze with Sookie before she exploded.

"…I had to do something!" and Rory couldn't stop herself from asking, "So, how did things work out?"

Luke's voice answered her question as he trudged down the staircase, fastening his watch on his wrist. "Hey Lorelai I'm gonna go to the store… you want anything special for breakfast…" and Luke saw Rory was home, "Well if it isn't our little Johnny Hooker, where's Paul Newman?" he wore the same smile as Lorelai.

Rory struggled to remember what movie that name was from, but Lorelai was impressed with the reference, and gave Luke a kiss on the cheek, "I've taught him so well."

"Hey I liked Paul Newman long before I met you."

"Yeah, but you only liked him for his salad dressings… Get it Rory, because he owns a diner!"

"Excuse me, Cool Hand Luke?" gesturing to himself.

"Dirty! Not in front of my kid okay!"

"Aww Jeez" and Luke shook his head, always falling into her verbal traps, as Rory giggled at the pair.

"Anyway bring me something with bacon," she smiled.

Rory glanced at the pair quipping back and forth, glad that they were back to normal.

"Rory? Any requests for breakfast?"

"ummmm I think this calls for Pancakes, to go with Mom's bacon" Rory suggested.

"You got it, see you in a few," And Luke kissed Lorelai goodbye, not even hesitating despite Rory being in the room.

When the door closed Rory practically crashed into her mom with a hug, "you guys made up!"

"Yeah we did," a couple of times…. DIRTY!

"Come on I wanna hear all about it!" and Rory excitedly pulled her mom to the couch, "First off, what was the big problem?" having that questing pounding the insides of her head for the last week.

Lorelai really didn't want to get into detail, she was still figuring it out herself, and she didn't want to get Rory's hopes up about Luke and impending Marriage. She was still being cautious and still wanting to take things one month at a time. "All I'm gonna say is … we did talk everything out, we are back to … normal." Cause we really didn't break up, Rory's hopeful eyes compelled Lorelai to give her a little tid bit, "he told me… he loves me."

"Well Duh! What did you say?" Rory was hopping in her seat, her five months of anticipation evident in every fidget, now that the love story before her was finally paying off.

"Well… I told him I cared about him… and that I liked how things were going."

And Rory stopped her bouncing "you didn't tell him you loved him?"

"Well, no?"

"You don't love him?" Rory asked in disbelief, her pitch cracking at the end.

"No I do… that is ... I care about him... a lot and maybe… on my way to … loving him. It's just…"

"Mom," Rory droned again, "Why are you making this so hard? In the movies it's easy…you just say it back…"

"Rory... in real life it's more complicated than that. I want to… mean it…when I say it."

"Well, you said you are on you way... to loving him… isn't' that enough."

"No… Luke deserves more than some one giving him lip service and being polite."

Thinking of Luke's errand to the store and his impending return to make the girls breakfast, "but you two …are still together…"

"Yes"

Rory wanted to be sure she understood the complete situation, "Wait a minute… he said he loved you, you didn't say it back, but you're still together?" usually in the movies, the characters got very upset if those three little words weren't reciprocated and that caused the lovers to go their separate ways till the one who didn't say it went through a ridiculous amount of plot twists and turns to have that realization and then had to go through the trouble of wining their significant back again.

"Well, he's being…very understanding … and he respects my … need for a little more time."

"Wow," Rory was blown away, "he is amazing…"

"I know."

"No mom he is amazing… he just lays it all out there for you… and he is willing to have the patience and stay anyway…" Rory continued to marvel at him, "and let's look at it from a practical stand point, he cooks so he can keep you alive, he fixes your car for free, he does light maintenance around the house, and if anything serious did come up he has about a hundred guys from his construction days to assist… so you have a mechanic, a cook, and a contractor all in one Christmas gift pack! Luke is the whole package, he is the perfect man." And Rory plopped back on the couch, her point sufficiently made, and shook her head as she slouched, unable to understand what her mother's hold up was to claim the total catch that was Luke Danes.

Lorelai simply stared at her daughter, not expecting the mature insight from a 10 year old. A few months ago she was so against her mother dating, and now not once had Rory mentioned her father. Unable to fill the silence, mother and daughter sat and waited till Luke came in the front door again. Lorelai pondering Christopher's new role if he even had a role, and Rory was wondering what was holding her mother back.

"Well I think the town knows we've made up", Luke announced.

Lorelai looked over her should to her grocery bearing boyfriend, "what makes you say that?"

"Well Miss Patty saw me buying bacon, took that as a clue and ran with it, literally, out the store. I've never seen her move so fast," He laughed, "Hey Rory, could you give me a hand with breakfast," wanting to make up for the lost week, and since he was told by Maisy to teach his young pupil everything he knew.

"I'm on it!" and Rory sprang back to life from the couch, and was in the kitchen helping Luke in a flash, eager to pick up where their friendship had left off too.

Alone in the living room, with the happy clang of pans from the kitchen, Lorelai was left to further consider her daughter's points, and why Chris was still an obstacle for her, still had an invisible hold on her for all these years.

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In the kitchen, Rory pulled her step stool close to the counter so she could help Luke mix the batter and flip the pancakes.

"Hey how do you feel about blueberry pancakes?" Luke asked.

Rory smiled, "heavy on the blue and heavy on the berry!" she had missed cooking and hanging out with Luke. Despite her brief efforts to hate him in the beginning, he was fun, and he made her mom happy, and that was what was important. Luke went out of his way to include Rory and make her feel special, not only working his way into her mother's heart, but her own as well.

Before Rory broke the first egg for the batter, she wanted to make something clear, "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I missed you."

"I missed you too kid."

Rory had to hug him, "…And I'm really happy you and mom are back to normal."

"Thanks, me too. And you know what?"

"What?"

"You look taller."

"Thanks, I've gained an inch and a half, I think…"

Luke knew more than anything that Lorelai would be worth the wait, provided that she didn't take 10 years to make up her mind. But for now, they had an understanding; they were on a similar page. Over Breakfast, Lorelai kept hold of his left hand, as if she wanted her actions to show him how invested she was, how sincere she was for them to continue. Truth be told, she was so comfortable with their situation, she was eating breakfast at the kitchen table in only her robe. It didn't seemed to phase Rory, having been used to her mother's habits for 10 years, But Luke was always fully dressed before eating, even as a kid.

Luke was happily catching up with Rory, when he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Unbeknownst to young Rory, who was telling Luke how hard her math final had been, Lorelai had slipped her feet into Luke's lap, causing him immense distraction from Rory's story and his cheeks to redden. As encouraging as that sign was, he didn't think it appropriate for Lorelai to be secretly propositioning him under the table, with her daughter not 5 feet away. Luke chanced a glance at Lorelai, who wore a positively wicked expression on her face. Luke grabbed her ankle to stop her advance, and moved her legs to rest on his lap.

When Rory left the table to clear her plate, "Not in front of your kid okay" he shot back.

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Lorelai knocked on the back door of the kitchen at the Independence Inn. Sookie came and said, "hey you're supposed to be at home, Mia has put a price on your head if anyone sees you."

"Really?" instinctively ducking hoping no one saw her, and Lorelai couldn't help her curiosity, " How much am I worth?"

"A week's vacation, during a holiday weekend!"

"Wow!"

"I know I'm tempted myself."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes, "Et Tu Brute?" her reference out of the way, Lorelai jumped into what she really wanted to talk about, "Have you had your break yet?"

"No"

"Good you are spending it with me…" and Lorelai pulled on Sookie's arm out of the kitchen and to her Jeep.

"Lorelai … I'm in the middle of making lunch, Rafael will kill me… can't this wait…"

"Trust me… it can't!"

"Lorelai…"

"Luke and I made up…"

"Oh My God!"

"I know, now remember Mia loves me and you… trust me… it will be worth it. I need my best friend here."

"Why do you always talk me into things?"

"I'm very persuasive"

Sookie wanted to say no, but getting the first hand dish on Luke and Lorelai was just too tempting. "Constance!" Sookie shouted, making Lorelai wince, "Remember two weeks ago when I saved your soup … you made it too creamy and it was sticking to the sides… well it's payback time, take care of my gnocchi!" Sookie instructed Constance, and she was now free and out the door with Lorelai.

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Lorelai pulled the jeep off to the side of a road.

"Where are we? Deliverance country?" Sookie asked

"No just on the outskirts of town."

The pair of friends started walking on the side of the road, because Lorelai couldn't keep still.

"So, you drag me to the middle of no where, you don't have a murder suicide thing planned do you?"

"No… I just didn't want anyone in town to over hear this."

"Okay, so… what's up?"

Lorelai took a deep breath, "Luke loves me," she still couldn't believe it, " he told me he loves me."

"Oh My God! " Sookie jumped, "what did you say?"

Why do they always ask that? "Well I told him…?" she trailed off, suddenly feeling guilty that she didn't feel the same way yet.

Sookie knew off the bat, " you didn't say it?"

"Well, no…"

"Aww Lorelai, come on!"

"Well I want to make sure I mean it…"

"You're telling me that you don't feel anything for Luke?"

"Of course I feel something for him…"

"But you don't love him?"

"Well, these things take time…" don't they?

"Are we talking about the same Luke? You know Luke Danes? The one who drops everything to spend time with you, the one who gets along great with your kid, The one who arranged a special movie to be shown on your first date. The one you get jealous over if another woman even looks at him. Oh yeah the one who you've had the greatest sex of your life with!"

"See this is exactly why I didn't want to do this in town." Lorelai said more for her self, finding a ranting Sookie cute and amusing.

"What reason do you have not to tell him how you really feel?" convinced Lorelai was merely in denial of her feelings; the love was there she just refused to acknowledge it.

"Christopher."

Sookie's mouth gaped, "Christopher? You're still in love with Christopher?" How can you be in love with Christopher when Luke is the one here?

"No, not in love, just… well, you know how Rory seemed to secretly hold out hope that Chris and me would work everything out and get back together. Well, I guess on some subconscious level, even more secretly than Rory, I kinda figured or hoped we'd eventually get back together too…"

Sookie sensed that wasn't the end of her friend's thought, "but now?"

"But now …with Luke in the picture, and how great things have been…an dhow MIA Chris has been, I think I'm ready to acknowledge that… secret little wish... and well, let it go. Really let it go."

"Really?" Sookie looked at her friend sternly.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess the young romantic in me would think it was nice 'hey the father of my child and I are together… in love and married'… how crazy is that? But as the years when on… that wish just got buried deeper and deeper… and the 'Woaw it's been ten-eleven years… really?' And now, I mean… I don't want to trap Luke or make him think I'm looking for or want him to be a stepfather… you know, to fill that void. I didn't go on the first date looking for a new daddy," Even though he is the one thinking of marriage on his own. "I just need to get used to this. Me and Luke… together… long term…"

"Long term?" Sookie raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Luke … he's a great guy… and well he says when he thinks about us… the three of us… he sees us together… sorta as a family unit…"

"Well that figures."

"It does?"

"Even thought Luke openly talks down about kids, he's always wanted his own. I really thought Rachel and him were gonna get married." Hey I remembered her name.

"He really loved her huh?"

"Yeah I suppose, but she left town, and he has you now."

"Yeah he definitely has me."

The pair hadn't really paid attention to where they were walking, and were started that there would be what looked like an old house in the middle of the woods.

"Sookie? Where are we?"

"I don't know, I was following you, I thought you were leading"

Lorelai was focused on the building, "what is this place?"

"I don't know…Lorelai?" Sookie's eyes followed Lorelai as she jogged toward the building, as if to introduce her self. Lorelai poked around the fallen in porch, looking for a clue to this structure's history.

"Lorelai come back, it doesn't look safe."

But Lorelai found what she was looking for "here, it's a sign…Dragonfly Inn." and Lorelai took in the sight of the neglected structure around her again. "It's an old Inn." and Lorelai looked at Sookie with almost a crazed look in her eye, and Lorelai started smiling for some unspoken reason.

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"That was all God given talent..." why thank you Luke!
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R/R: PLEASE, I like to better myself. To quote The Princess Bride,
"...Remember this is for posterity, ... so be honest."
Please be specific with R/R; name one (or as many as you can think of or want to mention..…) At least one specific thing you liked

Please! It makes me feel good...inside (Dirty!)

Hence the Rant option below.

Insert Rant here V
A/N: if not completely satisfied with this chapter, please return unused portion for a full refund...