Yeh, yeh, I know I said I wouldn't update til Sunday but thought I'd treat you to one last chapter before then! Enjoy! :)

Chapter 17

Luke just stood there not knowing what to do.

"Uh...hi, I'm Kate." Kate said trying to break the tension.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Rachel smiled.

"Uh yeh uh Kate's staying in the apartment." Luke said finding his voice.

"With you?" Rachel asked surprised.

"Uh no, I don't um live there anymore." Luke said.

Kate looked between them knowing there was obviously history between them. "I'm going to go up. Thanks for the lift back." Kate said and then disappeared inside.

"Uh come on in." Luke said in a daze and walked into the diner. He sat down at one of the tables and Rachel did the same.

"So you finally brought a new place then?" Rachel smiled.

"Yeh.." He said.

"I always thought that place was too small to live in." Rachel laughed.

"It was fine." Luke said.

"So who's the girl?" Rachel asked.

"Uh friend of Jess, well girlfriend, sort of." Luke said.

"Jess?" Rachel asked.

"My nephew." He said.

"Oh, Liz's son?" Rachel asked. "Liz is back in Stars Hollow?"

"No, uh Jess lives with me now." He said.

"Oh right." She said surprised. "That must be nice."

"Why are you back?" He asked.

Rachel sighed. "I was at the airport and I saw a flight to Hartford leaving and before I knew it, I was on it and here." She said. "I missed you, Luke. Didn't you miss me?"

Luke sighed rubbing his face with his hands and adjusting his cap. "Rachel, I'm married." He said.

Rachel was clearly surprised. "Oh..." She said quietly.

"I'm sorry..." Luke said.

"Why are you sorry?" Rachel asked still a bit surprised.

Luke shrugged. "Because you came all the way here and I've..."

"Moved on?" Rachel finished for him.

Luke sighed. "I've been married for 7 years." He said.

Rachel gave him a small smile. "I guess that's my fault for not returning." She said.

Luke looked up at her. "Rachel..."

"Are you happy?" She asked.

Luke smiled. "Yeh. Really happy." He said.

"Good." Rachel smiled. "You deserve that. Tell me about your wife."

"What?" Luke said confused.

"Come on, I want to know who finally got you." Rachel joked.

"Her name's Lorelai. She's amazing." Luke smiled. "She's got a daughter too. Rory. She's 16, just like Jess."

"Wow, how old is Lorelai?" Rachel asked.

"She had Rory when she was 16. Brought her up all by herself whilst also working full time. Pretty amazing really." He said.

"Sounds it." Rachel said. "So you, the man who hates kids, took on a kid as well?" She joked.

Luke smirked. "Rory was different. I adopted her. Her dad wasn't there for her and we got close. Lorelai and Rory came to the diner daily so I knew them pretty well before."

"So you live with them and Jess then?" Rachel asked.

"Yeh and Alice, Lorelai and my daughter. And soon another one. Lorelai's pregnant again." Luke smiled.

"Things really have changed around here." Rachel said.

Luke chuckled. "Yeh. But we're a family. Rory and Jess are inseparable, pretty much like brother and sister. Jess came to us when he was 9. Liz, well she wasn't doing great. Jess didn't want to go back so Lorelai and I applied for joint custody."

"Wow." Rachel said. She smiled at him. "But you're happy?"

"I'm happy." Luke smiled.

"Good, you deserve it." Rachel smiled.

"I'm sorry." He said.

Rachel shook his head. "No, I missed my chance. Luke, you're one of my oldest friends. I've always just wanted you to be happy."

"Thank you." Luke smiled.

"So I guess I should ask if there's somewhere to stay around here?" Rachel said.

Luke chuckled. "Yeh. Lorelai runs the Independence Inn here. I'm sure there's a room there." He said.

"Ok thanks." Rachel said. "You better get back to your family." She smiled. "Maybe I can meet Lorelai before I leave?"

Luke nodded. "Yeh, maybe." He said.

Luke watched as Rachel left and headed off to the inn. He let out a deep breath and then slowly got up and went to his truck to drive home.

Luke walked inside and went through to the living room. Only Lorelai was there watching tv. She turned round and smiled when she saw him. "There you are! What took you so long?" She asked.

Luke sighed and sat down next to her. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He said.

"Luke?" Lorelai said.

Luke looked over at her. "Rachel was at the diner." He said.

Lorelai was shocked. "Rachel? As in your Rachel? As in your school sweetheart Rachel?"

"Yep." Luke said. "Apparently she was at the airport in god knows where and saw a flight to Hartford and took it."

"So...you were late because you were with Rachel?" Lorelai asked worried. She knew how much Luke had loved Rachel. The whole town thought they were going to get married.

"I just invited her into the diner so we could talk. I asked her what she was doing back." He said.

"And?"

"She said she didn't know but she had missed me." Luke said.

Lorelai's heart dropped. "And you said what?"

Luke saw her worried face and reached over and took hold of her hand. "I told her I was married. Happily married." He said.

Lorelai let out a relieved breath. "What did she say?"

"Well she was surprised to start with but then she was...happy for me." Luke said. "She said it was her fault for not returning earlier."

"She was happy for you?" Lorelai asked dubiously.

"Rachel's not the jealous type, Lorelai." Luke assured her. "She's my oldest friend. She wants me to be happy. And I told her I was really happy. I told her about you and Rory and Jess and Alice. Everything."

Lorelai nodded. "So where's she staying?"

Luke grimaced. "Ah, I may have mentioned the inn. She met Kate so knew the apartment was taken. I didn't know where else to recommend." He said. "I'm sure she won't stay long. She'll probably get another assignment or something soon." He said.

"It's fine. She couldn't really sleep in the gazebo, could she?" Lorelai smiled.

"Yeh well Kirk has that." Luke smirked.

Lorelai laughed. "Poor Kirk."

Luke chuckled. He looked at her. "I want you to know that Rachel was in the past. I admit she was a big part of my past but she'll only ever be friend. I don't have feelings for her anymore, not like that. I love you and I love our family." He said sincerely.

Lorelai smiled. "I know." She said. "I trust you Luke. I guess I was just a bit shocked to find out your school sweetheart was back in town." She said.

"Yeh was a bit of a shock for me as well. I never thought I'd see her again." Luke admitted.

Lorelai looked at the clock. "It's late. Let's go to bed." She smiled.

"Yes please." Luke said and they both headed upstairs.

The following morning, Lorelai was behind the desk when a woman with wavy brown hair approached her. "Lorelai?" She asked.

"Let me guess, you're Rachel." Lorelai smiled.

"That's me." Rachel smiled. "Look, I hope it's not too weird that I stayed here. I will be out of your hair soon."

"No it's fine." Lorelai said.

"So I hear you were the lucky one to end up with Luke?" Rachel said.

"Yeh. Although I do tell him he's the lucky one." Lorelai joked.

"Well naturally." Rachel laughed. "Look, I'm not here to cause trouble ok? I know Luke and I have history but he's the happiest I've ever seen him and I think that's probably down to you. I had my chance and I blew it." She said. "I was hoping maybe we could be friends?" She suggested.

Lorelai gave her the once over and could tell she was being genuine. "Well I guess we could pass notes on Luke." She said with a twinkle in her eye.

Rachel laughed. "Oh yeh, Luke would love that!"

Lorelai grinned.

"Anyway, I'm just going off to explore a bit." She said holding up her camera. "It was really nice to meet you." She smiled.

"Yeh you too." Lorelai smiled, starting to warm to her. She watched her walk away. "Oh Rachel?" She said.

"Yeh?" She turned around.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you like here." Lorelai smiled.

"Thanks." Rachel smiled.

That evening, Stars Hollow was holding the Firelight Festival. Rachel watched from the side with her camera as she saw Lorelai and Luke arrive. She could tell Luke was already complaining about it but she smirked when she saw Lorelai say something to him which resulted in Luke rolling his eyes but then give her a smile. She held up her camera and took a few photos of them. She then watched as a girl and boy came up to them, the boy holding the hand of a young girl. She realised this must have been the rest of the family. She watched them for a bit and smiled at how much they just fit together. She could tell Luke was happy. Part of her was sad because she had missed her chance but most of her was happy for him. Luke was her oldest friend and she genuinely wanted him to be happy. She watched as that girl from the diner came up to them and started talking to Jess.

Throughout the evening, Rachel observed them all, taking photos. She eventually decided to go up to them. She saw Lorelai and Luke sit down on a bench. "Hey." She smiled.

"Oh hey! Came to join the madness?" Luke asked.

"He's not changed his opinions of this town's festivals then?" Rachel asked Lorelai.

"Oh no. That's one thing he will always rant about. Oh and Kirk." Lorelai grinned.

"Oh well that's a given." Rachel laughed.

"I am here you know!" Luke said.

Lorelai grinned. "I know. You're the person who's not asked me to dance yet." She joked.

Luke rolled his eyes. "I don't dance." He said.

"I beg to differ and I've got the wedding video to prove it." Lorelai grinned.

Luke just shook his head.

"I think that was a hint, Luke." Rachel said.

"Definitely a hint." Lorelai agreed nodding her head.

"You better do it now Luke or Kirk might ask her." Rachel joked.

"How is it that you're both ganging up on me already?" Luke exclaimed.

"Go on Luke. Do what your wife wants." Rachel grinned.

"Urghhh!" He groaned. He stood up and held out his hand to Lorelai. "Lorelai, would you like to dance?" He asked.

"Why Luke, how could I decline such an heartfelt offer like that?" Lorelai grinned, taking his hand.

"And I thought just one of you was work." He muttered. "I expected more from you." He said pointing at Rachel.

"Sorry. Guess it's just women power." Rachel joked. She laughed as she saw him mutter something else as he led Lorelai over to the dancefloor. She took out her camera again and started taking photos of them. She looked round and smiled. Maybe it wasn't so bad to be here after all.

Hope you liked it! :) Review and let me know what you think! I love hearing your comments! :)