Once again, I have to apologize to my readers. Not only are my updates far and few between, but I'm really struggling with moving the story along. Unfortunately, I recently started a job and any time I'm not working is spent sleep off my exhaustion. Sadly, this is not the ideal circumstance for creative story telling. I may end this story far earlier than planned, but we'll see.

Chapter 17 – Luke Returns

The remaining week and a half before Luke's return was hectic for the Gilmore girls. Both were juggling their commitments at work, emotions, and time with each other.

Most of Lorelai's time was spent organizing a tea party for an officious client at the Dragonfly Inn. Mrs. Baker—Lorelai was unsure of her first name since she was one of those people who insisted on being called Mrs. at all times—called numerous times throughout each day, resulting in a very frustrated staff.

Every time the phone rang, Michel shot Lorelai a loathing glare before answering it in his slightly phony voice. The entire situation had amused her for about two weeks, but now she'd reached breaking point. Most of the phone calls were only to confirm details that had been confirmed more than a few times already. It was infuriating and though Lorelai was used to this type of behavior (times spent with her mother came to mind whenever Mrs. Baker spoke), she was very much looking forward to the day that Mrs. Baker left her life forever.

Nevertheless, Lorelai knew she wasn't as frustrated as Sookie. When preliminary plans had been drawn up for the tea party, Mrs. Baker had requested a few proposals in order to select the perfect meal plan. In face of such a challenging client, Sookie had thrown herself into the project, spending many hours each day refining the various details. However, when presented, Mrs. Baker had shot down the several brilliant meal plans she had designed in favor of plain tomato soup and cheese sandwiches. Lorelai almost smiled at the memory of Sookie's rage; it had been, by far, the angriest she'd ever seen her at a client.

With a girlish smile and fluttery voice, Mrs Baker said, "Oh, just imagine cute little sandwiches with darling little bowls of tomato soup. It'll be adorable. The girls will simply love it."

Sookie stormed into the kitchen with an anxious Lorelai trailing behind. "Cheese sandwiches? Tomato soup?" She shrieked. "I am a gourmet cook! I can make anything! And she wants cheese sandwiches and tomato soup? I could make her anything and she asks for that?"

Lorelai shrugged, watching Sookie hysterically dart around the kitchen. If the situation had involved anyone else, she would have taken some amusement from it, but Sookie looked seriously unhappy. "Hunny, this is a good thing. You can have your life back. You can focus on other things like your family… or even sleep."

"You don't understand!" Sookie wailed, and Lorelai was surprised to hear the despair in her voice. "That client was a challenge! She was somebody who wouldn't accept a dish with a fancy name and some well mixed herbs and spices. She could have pushed me to the next level in cooking, and instead, she chose a meal that would make a three year old happy! She chose a meal that even you could make!"

Lorelai refrained from commenting on the slight on her cooking skills, mostly because she knew it was true.

A tear trickled down Sookie's face, and Lorelai felt her heart wrench. "Aw, babe. C'mon now." She reached out for her best friend, intending to pull her into a hug, but Sookie began pacing the kitchen, muttering under her breath.

As Lorelai left the kitchen, she distinctly heard the words, "ugly", "pink", and "poodle," mixed between some coarser English words.

The almost smile forming on Lorelai's face as she got caught up in the memory, a loud noise from upstairs brought her back to the present. She stood at the front desk, waiting for a scheduled pair of guests to arrive. Annoyed with their lateness, she tapped a pencil against the solid wood desk restlessly. Moments like this only served one purpose in her life now: memories and images of Luke came rushing forth, as well as the ball of nervousness regarding his return and ultimately, his decision about their future. .

In fact, as his return inched closer, Lorelai had became increasingly single minded. Any second her mind wasn't consumed with thoughts of the Inn and Mrs. Baker were devoted to his homecoming. Even her time with Rory had become eclipsed by her obsession; in lieu of their regular movie nights, the two spent their time acting out the potential scenarios to prepare Lorelai for the very worst. She was determined to accept his decision without reservation, even if one of the choices would break her heart.

Unfortunately, the practices had resulted in very little progress. Rory's acting skills left a lot to be desired so out of nerves Lorelai continually complained, impeding any improvement. And whenever Rory managed to act convincingly enough for Lorelai, the tears spilled from her eyes the minute 'Luke' rejected her.

"Mom! If you can't stop crying when I act like him, how are you going to not cry when it's actually Luke?" Rory cried in exasperation.

"I don't know! All I can really do is pray that he can forgive me. God, what am I going to do if he says he can't be with me, Rory?" she sobbed, tears pouring down her face.

"It's going to be okay," Rory replied quietly, hugging her tightly.

"How could I have done this?" she asked for the billionth time.

Eventually Lorelai had managed to hold back her sobs as 'Luke' ended things, though she wasn't sure it would be enough when the real man of the hour came.

But she'd find out soon enough. He was due back today, and Lorelai had spent the entire morning just thinking about how it would feel to touch him again. That was, if he took her back. If not, well, she only hoped she could be strong enough not to cry and to accept his verdict. If not for herself and her pride, at least she hoped she could be enough for him.

The sound of the phone ringing interrupted her busy thoughts once more, and Lorelai silently groaned. Pasting on a fake smile, she picked up the phone and answered, "Good afternoon, Mrs. Baker. What can I do for you?"

The girly voice replied and Lorelai smirked for moment. "Well," she responded. "It was just a hunch."

---

While her mother was at work, Rory spent most of her time staring blankly at her computer screen, running her hands through her hair in frustration. She'd sent her first book review off earlier that week and had received several glowing evaluations, even from Paris. But her fear of being a one hit wonder combined with her fight with Jess resulted in a serious case of writer's block.

Every time she sat down to start the review, the only words she could get out were stifled and flat. And she wasn't even sure what book to pick. Her original choice had been The Fountainhead; it was uncommon but intellectually stimulating so it fit the requirements. Plus, she'd just read it recently so its main points and style were very clear in her mind.

But each time she thought of the book, her mind turned to thoughts of Jess, which only served to depress her immensely. The two hadn't talked since their 'fight', if one could call it that. We would have had to actually talk to fight, Rory thought morosely, glaring at her computer since the real Jess wasn't around.

She'd contemplating reaching out to him first, but she wanted to give him time to cool down. She'd never really put the actions of Jess asking her to run away and her sleeping with Dean together, but hearing Logan do so made her realize how conjoined they were. And she knew there was no denying how much that realization hurt Jess. She'd seen his eyes, and though she could only discern anger at the time, she knew that later that night, when she hadn't been around, the anger had graduated to pain and sadness.

The morning following Logan's disastrous visit to Stars Hollow and Luke's diner, Rory had gone to his hotel room for their final talk. She handed him some aspirin and then asked him to sit in the chair at the desk. He squinted at her—giving her the bizarre feeling of resembling fine print—mumbling about the time and his splitting headache. Ignoring his complaints, she immediately launched into the reasons their relationship was over.

"Logan, there are so many reasons that you and I shouldn't be together. Firstly, we're very different people and we have different goals. And I want you to know that my decision has nothing with your stay in London. I just can't be the person you make me anymore," she said, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

"The person I make you? Ace, you make you," he retorted, running a hand through his hair and focusing his accusing eyes on her.

"If that's true, I don't want a person in my life that makes me act like someone I don't know."

He scoffed at her, but the solemn look on her face stopped him. "Oh c'mon on Rory. We're good together. You're just going through a phase."

"No, I was going through a phase when I decided to be with you!" she snapped.

The conversation between them had continued in a similar fashion, though Logan became increasingly desperate as Rory staunchly stood by her decision. His voice had become sweet and cajoling, and he kept reminding her of the good times they'd shared. But it wasn't enough for her. She'd seen the real Logan and the person wasn't the type of person she wanted in her life.

Eventually there had been nothing left to say. She'd given him one last look, knowing that once she left it would be over. Surprisingly, this knowledge hadn't caused her as much pain as she'd been expecting In fact, as she walked away from Logan forever, Rory vaguely wondered what had taken her so long in the first place.

And now she was sitting in her childhood room at her computer desk, resisting the urge to bang her head against the hard wooden surface. The word document before her was blank, and she stared at the blinking line. She didn't want to admit it, but the reason she couldn't write was because her inspiration was gone. Jess.

She glanced at the mirror in her room, surprised at her unattractive appearance and unhappy expression. That's it, she thought firmly. She wasn't going to sit around and mope. She'd learned this particular lesson the last time she and Jess had fought. Grabbing some clothing, Rory charged out the door toward the bathroom, determined to change her path.

An hour later, Rory stepped out onto the front porch. In typical Rory fashion, she'd spent the time alternating between her bold plan to seek Jess out and fix things and her old standby, which was to avoid him at all costs. But finally, the Gilmore in her had won out, and she marched all the way to the diner in order to maintain her focus.

Standing in front the diner door, Rory ordered herself to enter. It seemed she'd been standing in front of this door a lot these days, trying to muster the courage to set foot in the diner the lay behind it. She glanced through the window, hoping to catch at sight of him (and his attitude) but strangely, he was no where in sight. This emboldened her—the thought of a little time to gather her thoughts before encountering him was very attractive—so she swung the door open and entered in a would-be-casual manner. Per usual, the diner had only a few customers, and most of them were regulars.

Jess was still nowhere to be seen, but Lane was enthusiastically talking to Zach and Brian in the corner. Due to their hushed tones, she assumed they were discussing 'band' issues, mostly likely songs, especially after Lane only raised a hand in hello upon noticing Rory.

Settling at the front counter, Rory glanced sideways toward the stairs leading toward the apartment, hoping to see Jess magically appear. After a few minutes of waiting, she stood up with the intention to going upstairs, but Lane's voice interrupted her mission.

"Rory!" she cried, enveloping her in a hug. "How are you?" she whispered concernedly in Rory's ear.

Smiling slightly, she pulled away and replied, "Lane, we talked on the phone like a thousand times after it happened. I'm fine. I promise. "

The Korean girl nodded. "I know, I know. I just keep thinking about how I would feel, and then I feel really awful, and then I wonder how in the world you can be fine."

"Well, okay, maybe not totally fine."

"Still no luck with the review?" Lane responded sympathetically, though her eyes were focused on Zach and Brian. She was attempting to subtly gesture, and Rory glanced over her shoulder.

"Something going on?" she asked curiously as Zach and Brian began staring out the window, suspiciously whistling.

"I'm guessing that they're just writing songs isn't an acceptable answer?" Lane said sheepishly.

"You guess right."

"Well, everyone heard about Logan's big night in Stars Hollow and Zach and Brian were interested in hearing what happened so I told them since I was in the diner. I don't know if you knew that. Anyway, out the blue, Zach started writing a song. It was pretty good, actually, it was great, but then I realized… well, it was about what had happened between you, Jess, and Logan."

Laughing in disbelief, she sat back down, marveling at her incredibly strange life. Knowing her luck, Lane's band would become famous with that one song and everyone would know about one of the most unfortunate moments in her life. Maybe they wouldn't know it was specifically about her (though she was willing to bet most of Stars Hollow would).

"Look, I know it's not something you want publicized, but just listen to the song before you say no."

Nodding dazedly, Rory remembered the reason she was at the diner in the first place. "Hey, where is Jess? Is he on a break upstairs?"

"Actually, no. This morning he told me that he had a meeting with someone and then he took off. A Karen something."

A feeling of urgency overtook her previous feelings of confusion. "Karen? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Why? Is Karen a publisher or something?"

"Something like that," she murmured, standing up once more.

The diner bell sounded and Rory glanced up hopefully, expecting to see Jess's familiar leather jacket and half scowl. Instead she saw another familiar get-up: a blue backwards cap and a flannel shirt.

Luke was finally back.