Chapter two is here! The song is What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flatts, and no, I don't own it. I hope you enjoy…..review please!!

Thank you to those of you who reviewed the last chapter...i got some great feedback! Someone commented that songfics are a little cheesy, and I agree, they can be cheesy, but I really think these songs fit the story. Thanks for your opinion though!

Oh, and in this story April is not staying with Luke. That's not really important, but I just thought you might like to know. :)

Chapter 2- What Hurts the Most

"Just wait!" Luke told Lorelai. Where was all of this coming from? She avoids him for days and now she wants to run off and elope? There had to be something else making her upset.

"No! I'm not waiting! It's now or never!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"I don't like ultimatums!"

"Well I don't like Mondays but unfortunately they come around eventually."

"I can't just jump like this."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. And I have to go." Lorelai stated. Luke stood there and watched her walk away. He knew that he should go after her; talk to her. But he didn't. He stood there, in front of his diner, and watched the woman he loved more than anything in the world walk out of his life.

I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then
and just let 'em out
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again
I pretend I'm ok, but that's not what gets me

"You were right. I need to be faster. I need to move faster, I need to think faster. And, well, here I am," Luke told her on her doorstep, after telling her all of his plans- they were going to run away and elope. Or, so Luke thought.

"It's over." Lorelai told him.

"No, you can't say that. You can't just say that it's over. It's not over. You can't just decide that it's over. I'm in this, too. You know I'm not gonna let it be over. You said, "be ready now or never." I'm ready now."

"Luke."

"Let's go. Let's do this. Let's get married right now. Let's go."

"I slept with Christopher."

What hurts the most
was being so close
And havin' so much to say
And watchin' you walk away
And never knowin'
What could've been
And not seein' that lovin' you
Is what I was trying to do

Luke sprang up in bed suddenly. He had been having the same nightmare over and over almost every night for months now. The worst part was that it wasn't a nightmare. All of it had happened, and Luke had the broken heart to prove it.

He rolled over and looked at the clock. It was about 5, so Luke decided to get up and start his day. Just another boring, routine day. Without Lorelai.

After showering and getting dressed, he headed downstairs, grabbing his hat along the way. Not his usual blue hat that Lorelai gave him. No, he didn't wear that anymore. He wore a black hat. It wasn't as comfortable; it didn't fit as well. But then again, Luke really didn't care. Not just about the hat, but about just about everything. Nothing was the same anymore. He sighed as he unlocked the door to the diner and flipped the sign to open, wondering how everything had gotten so bad.

They had been so happy when they'd gotten engaged. He was happier than he'd ever been. But then he found out about April- that threw a huge curveball at him.

Maybe he had pushed Lorelai away; shut her out. But he definitely never meant to. She was his world-he thought that she knew that.

He felt awful for the way he had treated her. He just wished that she had come to him sooner; told him how she felt. He figured he brought it on himself, really. He had always been able to tell when something was bothering Lorelai. Always. There had just been so much going on at once, Luke took Lorelai for granted and lost sight of what was important to him. But at the same time, Lorelai had never been one to hide her opinions. Luke just couldn't understand why she hadn't said something all those months- why she had just let it all build up, only to come crashing down.

It's hard to deal with the pain of losin' you every where I go
But I'm doin' it
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone

"Uh, Luke?" Luke was snapped out of his thoughts as he found Sookie in front of him, looking worried. Apparently he had been lost in his thoughts longer than he'd thought.

"Yea. Sorry Sookie. What do you need?"

"Just coffee. To go."

"Coming right up," He told her as he turned around to get her coffee.

"Thanks. Uh, Luke?" Sookie asked, almost hesitantly.

"Yea?" He replied, putting her coffee on the counter in front of her.

"Are you…doing okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine," Luke replied nonchalantly, even though they both knew he was lying. Sookie, not believing him at all, decided to just let it go. As much as she wished that Lorelai was still with Luke, it really wasn't her place to go messing around in their relationship. Or lack there of. So she paid Luke and left.

Luke decided to take the coffee pot around and refill the customers' mugs. He really hated coffee. Not even because it killed you. Because it reminded him so much of Lorelai. Every thing reminded him of Lorelai. There really was no way to avoid it. Unless he wanted to live in a cardboard box or something; but even that would probably remind him of her.

He wished, so much, that he'd gone after her that day. But really, would anything have been that different? He wouldn't have eloped. He knew that that wasn't what she really wanted. She would have regretted it eventually. Luke knew that Lorelai had wanted a wedding with her family and friends. Well, her friends at least. And not to mention, getting married was no way to just solve their problems.

The worst part of this whole thing was that he didn't just lose his girlfriend and fiancée. He had lost his best friend. The one woman that he could talk to. That knew him; really knew him. They had been friends long before they had been a couple. Yea, he'd loved her all along, but he was much more content to have her in his life as just a friend than not at all.

Still harder
Gettin' up, gettin' dressed, livin' with this regret, but I know
If I could do it over
I would trade, give away, all the words that I saved in my heart that I left unspoken

Luke had asked himself once: If he knew that their relationship would end like this, would he have kissed her that night on the inn porch? At first, he said no, that losing her as a friend and a fiancee wasn't worth it. But the more he thought about, the more he realized that he would have still kissed her. Even though in the end, he lost Lorelai, those two years that they were together were the best years of his life. If he could do it all again, he never would have pushed her away.

He hated himself for losing her. He had no one to blame but himself. He never should have hidden April from Lorelai. He had just gotten so scared. He and Lorelai had talked about having kids, and now he suddenly had a twelve year old daughter that he didn't even know about. And he was scared. Scared of being a bad father, and scared of losing Lorelai because of it.

What hurts the most
Is being so close
And havin' so much to say
And watchin' you walk away
And never knowin'
What could've been
And not seein' that lovin' you
Is what I was tryin' to do

Lorelai was such an amazing parent. She had raised Rory on her own at 16, with little help from anyone. She and Rory had the most amazing relationship, one that anyone would be envious of. And here Luke was, a grown man, with no idea how to act around his own kid. He didn't want Lorelai to think he was a bad father. He didn't want her to decide not to have kids with him. So he, unintentionally, shut her out of that part of his life.

And that's how he got here. Behind the counter of his diner, wiping away at the counter like it was going out of style. Alone. And Lorelai was; well, he wasn't really sure. He heard that she was with Chris now, though. As much as he hated Chris, he really did hope that Lorelai was happy. Luke still loved her, with all of his heart. He wanted nothing but the best for her, though he doubted Chris was it.


Not seeing that loving you
That's what I was trying to do

Maybe there was still a chance for Luke? He really didn't know.

How was he supposed to fix this mess?

TBC!

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