Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of it's characters (god, I wish I did).

Sorry the last chapter was so boring, I just needed to describe how they got to Stars Hollow. The next few chapters will be so much more interesting, I promise.

As Lorelai followed Luke towards the front door of the hardware store, he sighed, looking over at her with the keys desperately dangling in his hand, "My dad's going to flip."

"Okay, all you have to do is explain what happened," Lorelai said sarcastically as her eyelids were trying as hard as possible not to shut from exhaustion, "But, talking to him is the only way I can go to sleep."

He sighed, knowing she was right. Finally noticing the giant, purple bags under her eyes, he realized how exhausted she really was. The look on her face said: God, I don't want to hurt like this anymore.

He understood, causing Luke to exhale heavily as he unlocked the front door of his father's shop. He knew better than anyone that his father was waiting for him upstairs, impatiently sitting in a chair as he tapped his fingers on his forearm. That's what he always did.

Walking into the store, Lorelai almost gasped with shock. It looked nothing like a hardware store. It almost looked like a diner that needed a lot of shelves full of tools removed...and a lot of cleaning.

An old, dusty garage smell overwhelmed her nostrils as she used her sleeve to cover her nose from the stench. Lorelai knew that she couldn't mention this to Luke since he'd have the reaction from a normal Febreze commercial; totally unaware of the smell that he had gotten so used to.

Instead of Luke's father being upstairs like he expected, he was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, waiting for his only son to return home. His arms were crossed. He was obviously unpleased.

As soon as he saw his son, Mr. Danes stood up, his arms still crossed, thinking of one hundred ways to punish him. But, as soon as he saw Lorelai, his angered face formed into a small frown.

He knew his son way too well to believe he did something like that. But, his mother had just died months before...his sister changed so why shouldn't Luke?

"What the hell…" he started, but something in the back of his throat stopped him from continuing to yell.

He knew if his wife were still alive, she'd scream at Mr. Danes to stop yelling and let her children explain. Especially, if it were Luke. Since he always went out of his way to help people he barely knew, his mother gave him pity. Now, his father knew he should do it as well.

Mr. Danes gave a withering stare towards the girl next to him, expecting a shiver of fear in return. Instead, she surprised him by giving a very confident glare.

Boy, did she stare him down, seeing if there was a way to twist his mind with comebacks or remarks, and he knew that's what she was doing. Defiantly Luke's type, he thought with a tiny smirk on his face, Maybe that's why he brought her here...

The first thing Lorelai noticed when she looked at the man, was the fact that he seemed exhausted...sad even. Just like her. The tired eyes and dark, purple bags under them gave that away.

As he stared her down, he noticed that she had the same sad blue eyes as his deceased wife, causing his angry stare to turn almost expressionless.

"Explain, Luke," Mr. Danes commanded, "Right now."

His son fidgeted with his fingers, almost like they were a new innovation that he had yet to figure out, "Um...well...Lorelai here…"

"I was stranded for three days," she interrupted, causing all eyes in the dark room to glare at her, "I ran away from home and hadn't slept or eaten a decent meal in three days. I've been vomiting and vomiting, and everything hurts. Then tonight, your son found me in the rain and helped me without any thought," she blurted as Luke gave her a very appreciative glare, " I told him my predicament, and he thought I could stay here one night before going away, okay? So, please, William. One night, then I'm gone."

The man she called William blinked at her several times, trying to process the speed she had just talked, "How do you know my…"

"Your store is named William's Hardware," Lorelai stated obviously, "I think I get the gist."

Luke could sense that his father had a sudden connection with Lorelai, which freaked him out, especially since his father hadn't really talked to anyone since his sister, Liz, ran away weeks earlier. Luke cleared his throat, deeply wanting an exhausted Lorelai to go to bed, "So, dad...can she stay the night?"

William bit his lip, looking down at the ground, "Well, tell me your predicament. If I think it's a good reason, I'll let you stay. But, if it's stupid or just plain old dumb, I'll have to let you go."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, which caught both of the men off guard. Usually, a young lady didn't act that way. This difference in character caused Luke to feel extremely attracted towards the young girl. Especially since, he didn't act like his gender either. He wasn't as wild as the male species stereotypically were.

"Father like son," Lorelai murmured under her breathe, "Fine, since I've already told this story like eight times, I'll just do it again…"

Lorelai explained to William her predicament, definitely not forgetting to mention the fact that her parents were forcing her into marriage, the part where Luke initially agreed to help her.

She explained everything, except the fact that she was pregnant. Nothing screamed disappointment like that statement. The concept of having a child was still so new to her, scaring her like a horror film.

Although it didn't seem like it, she was still wallowing around the stage of shame, wishing she had just obeyed what her parents asked: Be proper, graduate high school in the top of her class, and go to Yale. Since it was her family, that lifestyle wasn't very hard. Why didn't she just listen? Why didn't she just make loads of money by the snap of a finger? Maybe, that wasn't where she was meant to be.

Honestly, she had no idea how she felt about the situation, but all she knew, was that she was in it. And, she had to try the most in her entire life to make the best out of it because she had to act like an adult. She needed to be an adult.

Maybe, to become more like one, she had to tell William every detail, pouring out all of her thoughts and worries so she'd get the sympathy vote. Maybe, she didn't want the sympathy vote. What if she wanted to do everything on her own, so she could actually feel successful? Either way, it was her choice, and she would have to deal with the consequences.

William stared down at the tired, young girl, seeing through the many worries and secrets that were buried deep inside her. At that moment, he could sense she needed help, or at least, a kick start to help her start a new life, but he had many minor, but major, questions that he needed answered. Only some of which would be queried tonight.

"Why are your parents forcefully marrying you to this man?" William asked, half-knowing what answer she was going to cry out, "Is there some sort of reason?"

Lorelai gulped down an apple, trying to figure out some excuse so she could go to bed, "Well, do you know that giant, scary mansion at Hartford?"

"No," Willaim answered, while Luke replied, "Yes."

Mr. Danes whipped his head, facing his son with a questionable, but angried, stare, "How do you know which mansion it is? Every house is close to a mansion there."

Luke gave his father a quick smirk, "Dad, it's that house people, mostly kids, said was haunted. It was, I think, a fifth grade rumor. Remember, I told Liz about the rumor, and she got so scared…" he paused, seeing his father's expressionless face turn into a frown. Luke winced at the fact that he had just hit a very sore subject.

Lorelai nodded, agreeing with Luke's statement, unaware of William's change in expression, and almost laughing at the memory of the rumor that she started, "Well, It's that stone-walled mansion at the end of Hartford."

William still gave them a blank stare.

"It has so much Ivy on the walls, Wrigley Field thought they'd hand over that legacy to the mansion…" Lorelai kidded, getting no reaction from the two people in front of her, "Okay, just picture a really scary mansion, otherwise we'll never get out of here."

William nodded, "Fine, just tell me the rest of your predicament. I don't really care if I get the 'whole picture' of the story. I'm old, but my mind still works."

"Well, my family claims to have good blood," Lorelai started, making up more impulsive things on the way, "And they think that we are the best…"

William cleared his throat, "If you aren't going to tell me your actual dilemma, I'm going to make you sleep with the wolves," he started, getting a little sad that she would lie to him, "I think I already have an idea about what you're going through, but I need to hear it from you. Do you understand?"

Lorelai sighed, "They wanted us to marry because I am pregnant with his child, but I don't love him...at all." She didn't know why she added that last part in. Maybe, it was because she didn't want to seem like a slut, proving her dilemma was a mistake, or because Luke was in the room, standing right next to her, causing herself to want to hold his hand...that sounded weird. God, I just met him.

"Then, why did you have sex if you don't love him?" William asked, "No offense young lady, but you made a lot of life-changing mistakes in your story…"

"Dad!" Luke yelled, interrupting his extremely rude question, "You can't just ask somebody that! It's her life, not yours!"

Months earlier, before all of this chaos happened, Lorelai would've punched Luke's arm in gratitude, and would've said something like, Ahh, thanks, buddy. Please, take it from here. Then, watch his father yell at him instead of her, which at the moment, seemed cruel and unfair. She had to be an adult now, right?

"Yes, but if she stays in this household…" Willaim argued back at his son, a small vein starting to pop out of his forehead.

"For one night…" Luke retorted, rolling his eyes just like Lorelei did moments earlier.

"Then, she'll have to explain this one thing to me…"

"I know," Lorelai murmured during their small argument, causing both of them to quickly shut their mouths.

William gave her a hard, cold withering stare, challenging her to say the rest of that sentence, "What do you mean by I know?"

Lorelai exhaled heavily, "I know I made a lot of mistakes in that story, okay? But, what was I supposed to say? How I was so perfect and my parents villainous? No, that's not how it went! I was there, okay? I know I made the wrong choices, and I have to face lifetime consequences for it. But William, please let me stay one night so I can start to help myself, please."

As he was processing how fast she spoke, a little part of him was impressed. Minutes earlier, he thought of her as irresponsible and immature. Now, all those thoughts were starting to fade. He was realizing that she made a mistake, and wanted to make the best out of it. He also realized that's why his son wanted to help her.

"Go to bed," William commanded her, "I know you're tired, and you and your baby need sleep. But, we are not finished discussing this, and it will be continued sometime tomorrow. Now go. Luke stay here for a minute to let the girl powder her nose."

Lorelai gave him a look of gratitude, sighing with relief as millions of quick thoughts flew through her head, "Thank you so much. It will only be one night, I swear."

William smiled, nodding as she slowly made her way up the stairs.

Mr. Danes saw Luke's eyes long to go up there with her. To do what? He didn't know. Probably to help her, which is actually what action he desperately wanted to accomplish.

As soon as he heard the door upstairs go to a close, he asked his son, "Where did you find her?"

"Foxborough," Luke answered, "She was all the way in Massachusetts." (A/N okay, so I did a lot of research about that. It's about 75 miles away from Hartford, which would take about 25 hours to walk. Because of the time sleeping and resting, it takes about three days to walk. Lorelai walked three days before Luke picked her up. You're welcome. Please give me credit for doing this three day research on all the towns in the area + how many minutes it takes to walk a mile + the math + the time it takes humans to walk. Thank you).

"Why were you in Massachusetts?" Mr. Danes asked, "I don't care that you helped her. That was nice, but why were you in Massachusetts? You told me you were out doing some errands, then you never came back."

Luke sighed, playing with his thumbs, whispering, "I went to see mom's grave."

William slowly exhaled. He almost forgot how good of a relationship the two them had because he was too busy mourning himself. He almost wanted to hug his son, but he knew that's not the option Luke would've cared for.

When Mrs. Danes got sick, her first request was to be buried in New York, where she was born, next to her parents. William had blindly agreed since he believed she'd get better. But, when she died months earlier, it was hard to actually see her grave often.

Luke couldn't take not seeing her anymore. He wanted to talk to the grave and lay new flowers on it. He wanted to cry and ask god why he took it her. So, he went tonight, finding Lorelai on the way home.

William patted Luke on the shoulder, a sign of forgiveness, "Hey, why don't you give that Lorelai girl a new change of clothes. I'm sure she needs it."

The wind seemed to shift in Luke and William's relationship that moment. They never really talked much, nor would they ever, but they would understand one another much more from that moment on.

Luke nodded at his father, quickly leaving him to go to Lorelai. William was left alone in the dark, smiling. He had a weird feeling about that girl. A very good feeling.

Hopefully, you guys like this so far. Please don't forget to review!