Notes: Sorry about the long wait until this chapter. I had a huge test today and it needed to be studied for. I'll try to post a little more often this week to make up for it, but we'll see what I get written. Also, for my own plug, check out my new story Her Biggest Mistake it should be posted today or tomorrow, depending on how fast I get it proofread. Anyways, back to Luke and Lorelai...

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Luke's Hospital Bed

Lorelai pulls back the curtain surrounding Luke's bed in the ER, allowing Rory to walk into the curtained off area first. "Hey, Luke, you look good," Rory says. Luke smiles up at Rory. Lorelai sort of dances around by the curtain, trying to appear not nervous but failing entirely.

"Yeah. Just a stiff neck, the docs are making me wait to take a few x-rays to make sure it's nothing worse, but it's really just your average whiplash," Luke replies. Rory walks up to Luke's bedside and Jess puts his arm around her. Luke looks over at Lorelai to see her response to this, but she's not really looking at the two teenagers or Luke or anywhere in particular. Most importantly, he notices that she's intentionally avoiding his gaze.

"I just wanted to say, I'm glad you were there for my mom. Sorry this had to happen though," Rory says.

"Well the roads were icy," Luke comments, although everyone already knew that, so Rory just nods in response. Jess and Rory share a look.

"Hey, why don't we go see if my dad's almost ready to go," Rory suggests to Jess, who nods.

"If he's with my mother, I can probably find him pretty easy," Lorelai says, trying to come up with a reason to not be alone with Luke. Rory glances between Luke and Lorelai.

"No, no, stay here we'll be back," Rory insists. She takes Jess's hand and they leave before Lorelai can come up with another reason to keep them there.

Lorelai finally turns her attentions to Luke, who has been watching her the whole time. Lorelai blushes and swallows hard. "I – um – I'm glad you're – you know – fine," Lorelai mumbles. She slowly makes her way over to the side of Luke's bed. He's searching her face for what she's really trying to say.

"Something changed," Luke notices. She shrugs as Luke watches her face go white. He glances down at the ring on her finger. "Chris?" He motions toward the ring, that Lorelai begins to play with.

"Yeah – um – I should probably – God, this is hard – you know – when Diane left Sam – it looked so much easier than it does right now." Lorelai looks down at her hands, swallowing again and playing with the ring. She takes a deep breath and brings her eyes to Luke's. "I'm going to marry Chris." Luke scoffs, shaking his head.

"I can't believe this. I finally let down my guard and – what – because he didn't crash the car?" Luke glares at her, making Lorelai get choked up.

"No – I – he – Rory, she wants us to be together. She's just been so happy since we announced we were getting married and she was so upset when she thought it wasn't going to happen." Lorelai bites her lower lip, knowing it probably isn't enough for Luke, but hoping he'll see how much Rory's happiness means to her. He grasps her by her upper arm, pulling her towards him, so her face is almost touching his. Lorelai takes a deep breath trying to control herself, but can't, something about him is drawing her in. She leans in and presses her lips to his. Luke kisses back. But she pulls away quickly, so quickly that Luke lets her go. "No, Luke, I'm marrying Chris." She turns away, covering her face with her hands, trying to cool her cheeks and gain control of herself.

"You're being ridiculous," Luke says. Lorelai shakes her head, wringing her hands and looking up at the ceiling, trying to stay calm.

"This isn't meant to be, it's not right," Lorelai insists, wanting that to be true with all her might, but deep down she knows who she's meant to be with. She huffs, her hands going to her hips and turns to face him. "We're Luke and Lorelai, not Luke and Laura!" Pressing her hands onto the side of the mattress, she exclaims, "We need to stop this!" Luke searches her pleading eyes, waiting for some sign of what's going through her head. He reaches out and covers her hand with his, their fingers quickly interlacing unconsciously.

"Lorelai, I want it to be me, but more than that, I just want you to be happy."

"I'm happy with Chris. We're going to be a family," Lorelai whispers. Neither notices Jess standing in the crack in the curtain. "We slept together, it was wonderful, amazing, but it didn't mean what you think it did. We were just scared of what might happen. We were alone, in the dark, in the cold, in crazy states of mind and we just let things go to far. We weren't thinking about the rest of the world of Jess and Christopher and Rory. It was like we were in a different place in a different time, we weren't thinking clearly. But now I am, for both of us. You have to let me go."

"You're holding on too," Luke responds, motioning at their hands with his eyes. She looks down for a quick second and nods, swallowing.

"I'll let go if you let go," she replies, looking back up at him.

"I can't let go if I don't know you're going to be happy and you'll only be happy if you marry for love," Luke tells her. "Do you love him, Lorelai?" Lorelai's lips part but no words come out. "If you tell me you love him, I'll let go. I'll back off. You can have your perfect family with Rory and Christopher, everything you ever dreamed of. All you have to do is say the words." Lorelai takes a deep breath, a tense look on her face.

"I love him," she says in barely a whisper, not looking at him, immediately swallowing the bitterness of her words. Luke stares at her just letting the soft white lie fill the room.

"Hey boys and girls," Jess says walking the room. Lorelai quickly removes her hand from Luke's grasp, hoping that Jess didn't see, not knowing that he had seen and heard more than that. "It's Howdy Doody Time."

"Where's Rory?" Lorelai asks, running a hand through her hair. She adjusts her coat and purse.

"She's in the lobby waiting for you. Your fiancé is pulling the car up," Jess replies, saying the word fiancé with distaste. Lorelai nods. She glances back at Luke, who's staring down at his hands which are now folded in his lap, and presses her lips together, upset with herself for hurting him.

"Well, I should go meet them. I'll see you later. And get well," Lorelai manages. Luke doesn't respond, he doesn't even look at her. Lorelai smiles faintly at Jess and walks out of the area. Jess watches her go, an eyebrow raised. He looks back at Luke smirking.

"Sorry to interrupt the Joanie loves Chochie reuinion," Jess says sarcastically, not letting Luke realize what he knows.

"Shut up," Luke snaps. He runs his hands through his hair, trying to forget the recent tense conversation and wondering where to go from there.