If One of Us Had Been a Frog

Chapter Five: Hold Me Back

Disclaimer: Duh.

Summary: No, Sookie was wrong. He was holding her back… and she was OK with that.

A/N: Love you guys! Thanks so much for all these great reviews. Keep 'um coming!

Oh and incase you haven't noticed, I'm not doing this in order. Where's the fun in that anyway?

Please review.

Something about what Sookie had said, had caught her off guard. It had led her to a realization.

Nothing holding her back? Yeah right. What about Luke? Luke was here, and Luke never left Stars Hollow. OK that one time when Liz and TJ were hurt… but besides that, Luke doesn't leave.

He's stayed here his whole life… never wanted to leave, why would he want to now?

Luke wouldn't want to go with her. He wouldn't like traveling, and being topless in France. He'd probably like the idea of her being topless, but not in France.

No, he wouldn't go. He wouldn't leave Stars Hollow. He wouldn't leave the diner.

So, what? She'd go alone? She'd go to France and leave him here?

No. She didn't like that.

She didn't want to leave Luke. She didn't want to see him once or twice a month. She didn't want to call him once a week.

She wanted to see him every single day. She wanted to touch him, and see him and be with him all the time.

And hello? How would she go weeks without his coffee? That should be illegal. She'd have withdrawal pains. She'd start shaking and have to go to the emergency room.

And what would Luke do while she was traveling? Girls would be all over him, and what would stop him from giving in? They would be here, and she wouldn't be. How could she blame him for being with other women?

She was suddenly sick to her stomach. Luke with other woman, no coffee… no Luke.

No, she didn't like this.

"Manny! Let me try it with the chick peas!" Sookie's voice interrupted her thoughts. Lorelai glanced over at her best friend, lying on the couch, and smiled.

"I can't do it." Lorelai said.

"What?" Sookie asked.

"Mike Armstrong, the Durham Group… I can't do it." Lorelai said.

"Why not?" Sookie asked.

"Because… you're wrong. There is something holding me back." Lorelai told Sookie.

"What?" Sookie asked.

"Um… I have to go, OK? I'll see you later tonight." Lorelai said, still in a daze.

"Lorelai? Where are you going?" She heard Sookie call after her, but she was already out the door and half-way to Luke's.

She didn't even realize she had run all the way there, until she was outside of Luke's and barely able to breathe. God, she forgot how bad exercise was for her. She pushed the diner door open, and made her way to the counter.

"He's upstairs." Cesar told her, before she even had to ask.

"Thanks." She managed to get out, before heading behind the curtain.

She didn't even realize that she was banging loudly on the door, until Luke opened it and gave her a strange look. She was still in the process of catching her breathe, so she just walked past him and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Lorelai?" He asked, following her and sitting beside her. "Are you OK?" He asked, when he saw her heavy breathing.

"Yeah, yeah… I ran… here."

"You ran?" He asked.

She nodded, and was finally able to catch her breathe.

"Why'd you run here?" He asked.

"I had to talk to you." She said.

He sat up a little straighter when she said this, and she could tell he was a little nervous. "No, no. It's good." She promised.

He sat there, and waited for her to talk.

"OK, so you know that meeting I had?" She asked, figuring it was the best place to start.

"What meeting?"

"The one with Mike Armstrong." She clarified.

"The man that wants to buy the Inn?" Luke asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"OK…" He said, wondering where this was going.

"Well, he said that he's open to almost any option, you know? He could buy the Inn… or invest in it… and Sookie and I could work for their company. We'd be consultants, and we'd get to travel, and we'd have money… We'd get to go everywhere, and I could be topless in France…And I could say 'I'll be back from Dusseldorf on Friday', which I have always wanted to say."

Luke nodded. She didn't have to say anything else. He knew where this was going. "You're going to take it." He said, trying not to show how heartbroken he was.

"What?" She asked, in shock.

He stood up and walking towards the kitchen, getting a glass and filling it with water, so he'd have something to keep him busy, and also so she wouldn't see how upset he was.

"Luke." She said, following him and standing beside him. She waited until she looked at him, and spoke up. "I'm not taking it." She said.

"What? Why?" He asked. Hadn't she just gone on and on about how great the job was, a few minutes ago?

"Because you don't like traveling… and Dusseldorf and… being topless." She told him.

"What?" He asked.

"You're holding me back, Mister." She said, grinning and poking him in the chest.

"What?" He asked, again.

"I don't want to go. I want to stay here… with you." She said, still with that beautiful smile.

"Jeez Lorelai." He said.

"What?" She asked, confused by his reaction. Wasn't this a happy thing?

"I don't want to hold you back." He said.

"What? Why not?" She asked.

"Take the job." He told her.

"What? No." She told him, getting a little worried.

"Don't stay because of me." He said.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Lorelai! I don't want to be the reason that you're… you're holding yourself back. You shouldn't stay because of me. You- you should do whatever you want… You want to take the job, so… you should." He said, having a little trouble getting it out, but doing his best to make it seem convincing.

"I don't want to take the job." She told him.

"Yes you do." He told her.

"No, I don't." She argued.

"Lorelai, you just went on and on about how great it was… the travel… and the France… and the money. You want the job. Don't stay because of me."

"Look, traveling is fun… and money… it's great… but, I don't want to leave." She said.

"Lorelai…" He began.

"No, look… I love this town, and my Inn, and Rory… and you… I'm sorry if you thought that this was a bad thing, because it's not. It's such a good thing." She said, having trouble trying to find the right words to convince him.

"How?"

"How? Luke, nobody else has ever been able to hold me back… No other… guy has ever meant enough to me, that'd I give up this opportunity. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably take it." She said.

"Exactly." He told her. "Because of me. I don't want it to be because of me, Lorelai. You should take the job. You want to take it, so you should. Don't worry about me." He said.

"No, Luke." She said, getting frustrated because she didn't know how to get through to him. "Look… I don't see Rory that much anymore, right? I mean, I visit her sometimes, she visits me… But most of the time we just talk on the phone. So, if I started traveling more, it wouldn't be much of a difference… But, I'd… I'd miss you, you know? I wouldn't be able to just call you once a night, and see you a few times a month. I don't want that. I want to see you every single day."

"I don't want you to regret not taking it." He said.

"I won't."

"How do you know?" He asked.

"I just do." She told him.

He sighed, and Lorelai knew he wasn't convinced.

"I was just at Sookie's, and we were talking about it. The job, the traveling, the money… and we got so excited about it. But, then Sookie said that she couldn't do it… She had Jackson and Davey, and the new baby… She couldn't leave." Lorelai began.

Luke opened his mouth to say something, but Lorelai beat him and starting talking again.

"And she started talking about how I could do it. I could go and travel and have the money. She said, my kid's all grown, and I'm young and I have nothing holding me back… and all I could think about was, what about Luke?" Lorelai told him. "I don't want to leave, I don't want to leave you here. I want to be here with you… stay. I mean, you're important to me… really, really important, and I don't want to leave you. Things are going good for us, don't you think? I mean, I like us… and I just want to… keep being us. Luke and Lorelai, in Stars Hollow… no oceans between us, no long distance phone calls, no time zones… just us."

"I just don't want you to regret it and… resent me later."

"I won't."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do." She told him. "I'm letting you hold me back, Luke. I don't do that… I don't let people hold me back, but I'm letting you because… you're worth it."

He smiled at her, and she returned it gladly. "OK." He said.

"OK." She nodded, and leaned in for a kiss, as he wrapped her arms around her.

"Hold on." She said.

"What?"

She went to the kitchen table where she left her purse and found her cell phone.

"Mike Armstrong? This is Lorelai Gilmore, I just wanted to let you know that I've thought about it, and I'm going to decline your offer, and yeah… Thank you for everything, but Sookie and I don't want to sell the Inn."

Thanks for all of the reviews guys. And hey, I changed the title of this incase you didn't notice. But, if you didn't… yeah, I don't know.

I hope you liked this. Suggestions on the episode you want next? I know I'm doing them way out of order, but it's more fun that way.

OK, you know what to do!