Summary: JJ. Long buried secrets and memories are awakened during this game of Truth. Slowly but surely, the relationship between Luke and Lorelai deepens. This story is based on the book, The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen.

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing - This fan fiction is based on the book The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen. I'm not taking full credit for all of the dialogue and plot of this story, seeing as some of it belongs to one of my all-time favorite authors. Keep in mind most of it is written by me, so I'm not just copying the book. Okay, having said that, hope you like it and please leave a review!

Author's Note: I was listening to "Twisted Transistor" while finishing up this chapter. Just in case you wanted to know, lol.

A Game of Truth

Chapter Four: An Amendment

I found it hard to concentrate on the road as I drove down to Luke's. I was completely drained from my caffeine-less day at work, and all I could think about was the work that I had yet to finish. And the second degree burn Sookie had received during an intense argument over vegetables. And the five chefs that quit because they weren't 'in for this type of excitement'. And the phone call from Max.

I pulled the car up in front of the diner and just sat there for a moment. I was exhausted. I pulled down the visor and looked in the mirror, fixing my hair a little and quickly putting on some lip-gloss. Then I somehow dragged myself into the diner.

"Hey."

I shuffled my feet over to the counter. "Hi."

"How was your day?"

"Bad. Very, very bad." I slumped onto the stool.

"You want some coffee?"

"Do you have to ask?"

"So, this charming mood is the result of your very, very bad day?"

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!"

"Stop being obnoxious, I was just asking a question."

"Sorry."

Once we were the only people in the diner, it got pretty silent. But it was a comfortable silence. The occasional sip of my coffee could be heard, and maybe the scribble of Luke's pen. But other than that, silence. It was nice. It was then that I realized we had a game of Truth to get back to. The only problem was, I didn't know what to ask.

I guess the reason why I brought Rachel up, was because Max was on my mind all day. All I could think about was that phone call. And how he wanted to get together. To talk things through. To get some answers. Yeah, that's why I brought Rachel up.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

I paused for several seconds before I spoke, "Why did - why did Rachel leave? What happened?"

Luke looked up at me, and eventually put down his pad of paper and pen. For a while he just stared at his hands. Once the uncomfortable shifting and adjusting of the baseball cap had begun, I knew I had over-stepped.

"It's uh - It's... complicated." He muttered.

"I know 'complicated', trust me, I can handle it." I knew he didn't want to answer the question. He didn't want to tell the truth. But I kept pushing him.

"You don't want to know why she left me."

"Luke, you're just making the curiosity greater."

He let out a deep sigh, and finally spoke, "Apparently, there was someone else."

I covered my mouth with my hand, my voice was at a barely audible whisper, "Oh, my God. She cheated on you?"

"No... no."

My eyes widened, "You cheated on her? With who-"

"No, it's not like that. She - she didn't even know what she was talking about. She just-" He sighed in frustration, "She left me because she said that I had feelings... for you."

A wave of pure shock passed through me. "What?" His eyes were once again focused on his hands. "Did you - did you tell her that you didn't? Did you tell her that you loved her, and that you wanted to be with her?"

"I told her that we were just friends... she didn't believe me."

"Did I do something to make her think-"

"No, you didn't do anything. I don't even know what I did. I mean, I probably shouldn't have spent so much time at your house fixing things... but I - I don't know." He sighed once more. "She was right. My heart wasn't it. I didn't really want to be with her."

"Wow. I'm - I'm sorry for pushing her on you like that. I kept telling you to give her a chance... I didn't know that you didn't want another chance."

"I mean, she just left and then she shows up years later and wants to just pick up where we left off? I didn't want to do that. I was done, we were done. I should have told her that the minute she came back."

He rolled his eyes at the thought of her leaving and turned around to get the coffee pot. He started speaking when re-filling my cup, "So, I've told you about Rachel, but you still haven't told me about Max. What happened there?"

"It's funny that you mention him."

"Why?"

"He called me today."

I couldn't help but notice Luke's sharp intake of breath. "What did he - what did he want?"

"I don't know. He just... wants to talk, I guess. I didn't really agree to see him or anything, he said he'd call me tomorrow."

"Oh, well that's... good. I guess..."

"Yeah, I guess. At least he doesn't hate me. Well, maybe he does. I don't really know." I looked down, playing with the handle of my coffee mug.

"You never answered my question."

I looked up and shrugged my shoulders. "I wasn't - I wasn't in love with him. I don't know if I ever was, really. I mean, being in love... and loving somebody, they're two completely different things." I paused for a moment, collecting my thoughts, "And when my mother told me how she would go downstairs in the middle of the night, trying on her wedding dress because she was so excited, it just hit me." I was surprised when I felt tears brimming my eyes. "It hit me that I wasn't excited about getting married. About settling with someone. Being with someone for the rest of my life. I wasn't in love with him." I could feel a single tear trail down my cheek. "And then, that night... when you gave me the chuppah... when you were talking about - about how you only get married once... I just knew. I really knew that It wasn't my time to get married. He wasn't the person I was supposed to marry." The tears were more freely running down my face. I'm not sure why, I just couldn't control myself.

Luke was now sitting on the stool beside me, his face full of sympathy. I continued to speak, "I just, I feel so awful. It's just another relationship gone bad for Lorelai Gilmore... God, he must hate me. I would hate me." Suddenly feeling embarrassed, I began to brush away my tears. "The whole thing was just a mess. I really screwed up."

I didn't know why I was speaking, I could just stop. I could pass. I didn't need to tell the truth. It was just some stupid game, and here I was... pouring my heart out. I looked up when I felt Luke's hand over mine.

I spoke just above a whisper, looking down at our hands, "You don't have to feel sorry for me, Luke. I know you hated Max."

"I didn't hate him. I just-" He paused, "I hated that you were marrying him."

I looked up, straight into his eyes, "Why?"

It took him a while to answer, "Because."

I smirked a bit, "That's not a real answer."

"Because."

I don't know how long the moment lasted, but it seemed like forever. We were so close, our knees barely touching, our faces inches apart, our eyes locked. If it had been any other moment, if it had been any other man, I would have kissed him.

My voice was so low, I could barely hear myself speaking, "Luke, what's the one thing you would do, if you could do anything?"

I sat there, waiting for his answer, and then he spoke, "Pass."

"What?"

"I said, I pass."

"Why?"

"Because, I can't answer that question."

"You can't or you won't?"

"Both."

"Well... you know what that means then, right?"

"It means that if you answer the next question, you win."

"Okay, go ahead. Ask me the question."

"No."

"What?"

"I'm going to think of a good question, you can wait until then."

"That's not in the rules."

"I'm making an amendment."

TBC