A/N: As always, thanks for reading and reviewing the last chapter. And Jessi, as always lots of thanks to you as well!!

Chapter 9 - Together again

"The past eight weeks we talked about how you met and how your friendship turned into something more. Then we talked about the reasons why you broke up twice and the issues hanging between the two of you. Is there anything else that we should discuss?" Spencer asked, the following week.

Lorelai raised her shoulders. "I think we talked about everything important. I have to admit that when we first came to you we didn't think this would help us, but I really believe it has. There were many things we never talked about and it feels good to have them out in the open, and to have dealt with them."

"I agree." Luke said.

"Good. Then I would like to hear about how you became friends again, after your relationship ended the second time."

Lorelai thought for a while. "That was a slow process. I guess we avoided each other for the first few months. There wasn't much we had to say to each other, especially after I married Chris. The first time Luke called me after the ended engagement was when April was sick and was rushed to the emergency room when she had appendicitis."

"She was feeling bad and I didn't know what to do. Lorelai was the only person I could think of calling." Luke admitted.

"I know." Lorelai smiled and patted his knee. "I'm so sorry I only made things worse for you that night."

"That was when you saw her ring?" Spencer asked, remembering he mentioned April being operated on last week.

They both nodded.

"I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did. I should have told you." Lorelai said, still regretting how he found out about her marriage.

Luke nodded. "It doesn't matter anymore. It's in the past. It did hurt to see that ring on your finger but it's gone now."

She smiled. "The one I have now is much better."

He grabbed her hand and studied her ring for a second, tracing her finger tenderly. "It sure is."

Spencer smiled. Then he went back to business. "What happened afterwards? When did you speak again?"

"A few weeks later we met just outside Doose's market. Luke was babysitting Doola, our niece. And a couple of weeks after that he came to see me at the inn and asked me to write character reference for his custody battle over April."

They didn't notice the smile that appeared on Spencer's face when Lorelai said 'her niece'. They were too caught up in their conversation.

"I'm sure it was your letter that helped me win in the end," Luke said.

Lorelai shook her head. "Maybe it helped a little, but you did it all by yourself Luke. You are a great father and the judge realized that. You deserve to have shared custody over April. It's just sad it took so long before you got it."

"It's okay. Better late then never right? I get her one weekend a month, every other major holiday and half of the summer. Although half of the summer turned out to be only a few weeks because of her summer course. But she's such a smart kid and it meant so much to her. Who was I to tell her she couldn't go?"

Lorelai smiled. "And that is exactly why the judge gave you shared custody."

Luke lightly squeezed her hand to let her know how much that meant to him.

"I guess that letter really got us back on track although Christopher was pissed when he found that letter. He said he was my second choice, and now I know that he was. He was so mad he didn't even show up at the hospital after my father had that heart attack. While you were there immediately after you found out and did everything my mother asked you to. You picked up his car, you brought us food. I'm so glad you were there for me back then."

"You needed me." He simply stated.

She smiled. "I definitely did."

"Is that when your marriage with Christopher ended?" Spencer asked.

Lorelai nodded. "After he found that letter he was so mad. He said I cared more about Luke than I did about him, and that he was my second choice. I tried to deny it at first, but then I realized it was all true and in the end we realized a divorce would be best for us. We were never meant to be together and there was nothing we could do that would make us happy as a couple."

"And so you were alone again. Did you try to become closer with Luke afterwards?"

"No. Breaking up with Christopher actually made me mourn my failed relationship with Luke. All those months I suppressed my feelings and although I was really sad in the beginning, I never really gave it a place. Now that I was finally alone, it came all crashing down on me. All the mistakes I made, and what I lost in the process. When Chris pointed out that he was my second choice, I realized that he was right. He was, and always will be."

"What happened after that?"

"We both went on with our lives. It was months later when we ran into each other again in the maze. There was this festival in town where there was a big hay bale maze in the center of town and I somehow got lost inside. I ended up running into Luke and finally we apologized to each other about what happened. Things went really better after that."

"We should have said those things a long time ago." Luke said.

Lorelai nodded. "But I guess it was better late than never."

"It must have felt good to hear those things." Spencer said.

They both nodded, then Lorelai said "But things were still a bit awkward. I thought we could go back to normal after those things were said so I went to the diner for breakfast and hoped that it would be like before. As if I never left. But it was really weird to be back. Everybody was staring at me, Kirk kept on yammering on how I couldn't get my regular stool back and Luke and I didn't really know what to talk about. In the end I had him pull my coffee in a to-go cup and just left."

"You needed some time for things to be normal again." Spencer stated.

Lorelai smiled, remembering how things went on after that morning. "My jeep broke down later and with a little encouragement from Sookie I finally asked Luke to help me shop for a new one."

"Which was a disaster. She didn't like any of them." Luke muttered, which made Lorelai's smile even bigger.

"In the end we started bickering which for me really felt like things were starting to get normal again."

"I realized she didn't want another car. She liked the one she had so I found someone who was selling a jeep just like hers. I made sure the guy was selling it to her for a reasonable price so she could use the engine and fix her own car."

"That was one of the sweetest things anyone ever did for me." She said, placing her hand on his knee.

"Yeah well…" He said, a bit embarrassed. "It's stupid because you could have bought a new car for the price you spend on fixing your old one."

She smiled. "And yet you knew that's what I really wanted."

"You couldn't keep riding that bike of yours," Luke said.

"Why not? The only thing it was missing was a horn, other than that it was perfectly fine."

"But it was a good sign, that he did that for you," Spencer said.

She thought for a moment. "What I took as a really good sign was that he was wearing his old baseball cap again. The one I bought for him years ago, after he drove me to the hospital when my father collapsed the first time. He wore it every day since I gave it to me, until our engagement ended."

"You took that as a sign?" Luke asked, surprised.

"Yeah. You replaced it for that stupid black one after we broke up. I know that was because the blue one reminded you too much of me. So when you suddenly wore it again, I took that as a sign that you really forgave me."

"I didn't realize that." Luke said.

"Isn't that why you started wearing it again then?" She asked, wondering why else he would have start wearing it again.

"Honestly, no. At least not at first. The reason I wore the blue one is because I couldn't find the black one anywhere. I guess if things would have still been bad between the two of us I wouldn't have worn the blue one though. So maybe you're partially right. But I really started to wear it again because I lost the other one. When Zack found the black one behind the dishwasher a couple of days later and gave it back to me, I was used to wearing the blue one again so I just put the back one in the back of my closet."

Lorelai thought for a moment, a bit shocked by the news at first. But then she realized that it was a good sign after all. At least he kept on wearing the blue one in the end and put the black one away. "So it still was a good sign. When did Zack find it?"

"The morning after karaoke night at KC's."

She smiled. "So it was a really good sign that. It means I didn't scare you off with my song."

"Which song?" Spencer asked curiously.

Lorelai looked down, a bit embarrassed. "I will always love you, by Dolly Parton." She then looked up. "Rory was graduating and she was having trouble finding a job. She didn't got the internship at the New York Times she really wanted, and she rejected one of the jobs she did get and it was given to someone else when she realized she did want it. So we all went to KC's and I went on stage to make her feel better. But when I started singing Luke walked in and I suddenly realized how much that song fits for us. And I realized that I never stopped loving him, and that I never will and I really directed the song towards him."

"But you said you didn't meant it." Luke said.

"When?" She stared into his eyes, confused.

"The next day or so, at the diner. You told Miss Patty you didn't mean it."

"And you thought that was true?"

"Well, it's what you said," he said, still slightly hurt.

She shook her head. "Do you really think I wanted to put my heart out to the biggest gossip queen in town? It was embarrassing enough that everyone saw it. I was the subject in town. Everybody was talking about me. I just thought that if I told Miss Patty it didn't mean anything, they would shut up and leave us alone. I never meant for you to overhear that."

"So you did mean it?" He asked, needing to know for sure.

She looked directly in his eyes and stroked his cheek with her thumb. "Absolutely." And then with a smile she said "I will always love you."

"I'll always love you too."

That made her smile even bigger, if possible. "I know."

Spencer smiled, looking at the couple in front of him. "And then there was Rory's surprise goodbye party which Luke organized?" he asked.

Lorelai nodded, focusing her attention back on Spencer. "That's when I really realized how much Luke meant to me, and even more how much we still meant to him. At first I thought it was all Sookie's doing, but then she told me it was Luke and that gave me such a special feeling inside." She placed her hand over her heart to indicate where she felt it. "I went to search him and found him just exiting the diner. He had gotten more charcoal for the barbecue. At that point we didn't need many words. We were standing there, staring at each other and I thanked him. He looked at me and he said he just wanted to see me happy. I don't know when he dropped the charcoal and when we moved closer but suddenly I found myself in his arms and my lips were touching his, finally."

"And that is how you got back together?"

"We spend the summer afterwards together. Lorelai was getting used to Rory not being there anymore, and I wasn't going to spend it with April as was originally planned. Finally we moved in together and at the end of the summer I proposed and she said yes."

"And that's how we finally ended up here." Lorelai added.

"And that's the whole story." Spencer said.

Both Luke and Lorelai nodded. "That's the whole story."

"Do you feel you're ready to get married now?"

"Absolutely." Lorelai said.

"Definitely." Luke said at the same time, and they looked at each other with, both smiling.

"I agree."

Their gazes immediately went to Spencer, focusing on him completely.

"The past few weeks we talked about every aspect of your relationship and I really believe you weren't ready to get married when you first came to me. The two of you went through a lot and you never really discussed all those subjects thoroughly. But you learned a lot the past 8 weeks and I really believe that you are ready now. You dealt with all those subjects and now realize how important it is to communicate. And if you keep doing that, you will have a good and happy marriage ahead of you. And that why I wrote you this." He handed Lorelai an envelope which she opened with trembling fingers. She took out the letter and held it so she and Luke could read it together.

Dear Mr. Doose,

Eight weeks ago Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore first came to my office with the request to write them this letter. A letter in which I tell you they are suitable to get married.

For the past eight weeks I talked with Luke and Lorelai on a weekly basis. At the beginning of this period I had to agree with you. There were many issues hanging between them and they had not dealt with them properly. And while a marriage probably would have lasted, the base would have been wrong. I am not willing nor allowed to discuss the subjects we talked about with you but I can guarantee you that we have dealt with those issues now. Getting to know Luke and Lorelai I realized they are two people who seem to belong together. They had a rough past but I am sure they will have a great future.

At this point in their relationship they are very ready for the next step, which in their case is marriage. And with this letter I want to let you know, that you should not stop them from getting married. They want to spend their special day with friends and family in the town they both love so much. And the only thing stopping them from doing that at the moment is you. I understand where you came from all those weeks ago, but now there is no reason to stop them from getting married. Not anymore. Therefore I want to ask you to trade this letter for their marriage license. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at the number listed above. And if you ever need someone to talk to, my office door is always open.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. A. Spencer

"Thank you." She said, after she finished reading the letter. You don't know how much this means to us.

"I have to thank you." Spencer replied. "For coming here and talking to me, for letting me help you."

"But that's your job." Luke said.

"Yes it is. But not everybody finds it easy to come here. And I know it wasn't your free choice to come here in the first place, but it was your choice to come back."

They both nodded again, understanding what Spencer was saying.

"Well, I guess this is it then." Luke said, while standing up.

Spencer and Lorelai followed his example and they shook hands, saying thanks once again. The last thing Spencer said before they left his office was. "Congratulations on your engagement. I'm sure you will have a great wedding, and an even better marriage."

And with that Luke and Lorelai went home.

T.B.C.