A/N: Sorry that this chapter is really, really short. But it's still significant, so please read and review!

Chapter 6: Gone Fishing

Lorelai pulled out of her parents' driveway and drove back on that familiar route from Hartford to Stars Hollow. What had her mother meant? She had been so confident that Luke would be at the next Friday night dinner, did she expect that they would have worked everything out by then?

Oh, for heaven's sakes Lorelai, you are many things, but you aren't stupid.

Lorelai knew her mother was right, she had been acting stupid. She wanted to be with Luke more than anything, but she couldn't seem to make it work. She kept running away. First she had given him an ultimatum and run to Chris, and now, when everything had been so close, when she felt like she could hope for happiness once again, she had run. She didn't understand why. She felt like she was drowning, being sucked deeper and deeper into the water, and she couldn't seem to find a way out.

I just want to see you happy. The words rang in her head. He had only just wanted to make her happy. He had built her a chuppah when she was going to marry Max, comforted her when she was crying, supported her when she started her own inn, built her an ice rink when she was mad at snow, agreed to remodel her house after she expressed concern about moving. And now he had thrown Rory this enormous party. Luke had always been a man of action, not words. Hadn't his actions recently shown her that he still cared? The party? The kiss? And what had her actions shown him? She had run away from him. She couldn't blame him for not running after her, how could he have known that she wanted him to? Why had she been so stupid?

Suddenly, she heard the engine rattle. Oh no, she muttered as she pulled over to the side of the road. Perfect timing. She was about a mile outside of Stars Hollow, and she had run out of gas. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed before it was too late.

She stopped the car and rested her forehead on the steering wheel, trying to decide who to call for help. If this had happened last year, she could have called Luke.

Suddenly something inside her snapped. She couldn't do this anymore. Sookie was right, the town was right, even her mother was right. She needed Luke, she had been stupid.

But she didn't want to call Luke, asking her to come help her again. This time she had to be the one to go to him; this time she had to be the one to show him that she cared.

Suddenly her car was of minimal importance. She didn't want to waste her time trying to find the closest gas station. Only one thing mattered to her.

She got out of the car, shut the door behind her, and started running. This time she was running towards something, not away from it. This time she wouldn't freak out or second-guess herself. She finally knew what she wanted.

She was excited, anxious to see him. After all this emptiness, she finally understood how to fill it. She felt alive, as if she had finally climbed out of the hole she had been in for the past year. The world around her spun in a dizzying array of colors. Her steps took her closer and closer to him, to her home.

All the memories she had ever shared with Luke came flooding back, but this time she didn't feel that familiar pain as she remembered them. Overwhelmed with emotion, she felt herself smiling and crying at the same time. She wiped the tears from her face and kept going.

She had never run so fast for so long in her life. Finally arriving at Luke's diner, she had to collapse on the front steps, out of breath. She could barely walk any farther. She sat there for a second, collected herself and her breath, and then stood up to face the diner door. When she saw the sign hanging on the glass, she collapsed back down to the ground.

Gone Fishing.

A/N: I know, you probably all hate me now...I'll update as soon as possible!